Air Tanzania’s Planes Grounded Due to Engine Crisis
The new Airbus A220-300 flies for the first time on July 10, 2018 at the Airbus delivery center, in Colomiers southwestern France. 
In 2018, Air Tanzania (ATCL) received its first Airbus A220, becoming the African launch customer for the plane model. Four years later, the company is struggling to keep the aircraft operational due to construction flaws and world market peculiarities.Air Tanzania’s Airbus A220 fleet is grounded because of engine problems, leading to flight schedule disruptions.
"Due to the worldwide technical challenges of these engines, and related safety requirements, we have been following professional instructions to provide quality and safety service. Sometimes we take the aircraft out of circulation to meet the demands of the engine manufacturers," the airline said in a statement, as quoted by the media.
ATCL has a fleet of 12 planes. Four of them are Airbus A220s, two of which have not flown for months.The PW1500G and PW1900G engines used in the Airbus A220 and the Embraer E2 airplanes have recently been subjected to extra inspections by international regulators due to risks of inflight shutdown. Premature wearing of certain parts has been named as the cause of engine malfunction.The technical issues have led to high demand for engine repair and replacement. Air Tanzania (as well as Air Senegal, which also uses A220s) is facing difficulties with plane maintenance because hundreds of new engines have been booked by major Western operators.”We are still far down in the manufacturer’s queue for repairs. Until the engines are in the repair shop, we cannot know exactly when we shall get relief,” an ATCL official said, noting: “And because this problem is not particular to Air Tanzania but applies to all users of these engines, there are not even enough spare engines available to keep us going during the repairs.”In January and July 2022, European and American regulators issued two directives that require the removal and replacement of the high-pressure turbine before it is done to stage disks, as well as more frequent inspections of the low-pressure compressor rotor 1.Agreements between Air Tanzania and the engine manufacturer Pratt & Whitney include compensation for the purchaser in the event of technical issues. However, according to ATCL, the airline is currently looking for the opportunity to lease replacement aircraft, because the agreed compensation is insufficient to make up for the lost revenue.It is estimated that the two malfunctioning planes have caused the company a loss of $10.21 million in the period of 2020/2021. According to a report, in April 2022, ATCL’s debt stood at $132.77 million.
