Airlines land hundreds of planes: they do not have time to repair engines and eliminate defects

More than 835 aircraft are idle due to the fact that the number of detected defects in Pratt & Whitney turbofan engines is growing, and the repair time is increasing. Many well-known airlines were hit.

"The operational crisis around the Pratt & Whitney Geared Turbofan (GTF) engine family has reached a new peak. As of the end of the fourth quarter of 2025, the number of stored jet aircraft serviced by the PW1000G family has grown significantly, highlighting the growing gap between maintenance capacity and the relentless pace of engine recalls," writes AeroExplorer.

The publication cites data from Cirium that the total number of stored aircraft with GTF engines reached 835 by the end of October 2025. These engines are used in Airbus A320neo, A220 and Embraer E2 aircraft. In fact, a third (33%) of the global GTF fleet is now immobilized.

One of the most affected were the Mexican airlines Volaris and VivaAerobus. This is followed by Wizz Air and airBaltic.

"The main obstacle remains the repair time in the maintenance centers. What used to be considered a 60-day inspection has turned into a 300-day odyssey for many engines,"the newspaper writes.