The biggest airline in the nation, IndiGo, announced on Friday that it is taking a number of mitigation steps and that there will be additional aircraft groundings as a result of the problems in the fourth quarter.

According to a senior airline official, the airline’s 40 planes are currently grounded because of engine problems.

With 334 aircraft in its fleet as of the end of September, IndiGo is implementing a number of strategies, such as leasing more CEO aircraft from the secondary market, keeping CEO aircraft on wet lease, and taking on planes on wet lease.

Inlight of P&W’s concerns about powder metal, IndiGo’s Chief Financial Officer Gaurav M. Negi stated that the airline is aware that most incremental engine removals are scheduled for 2023 and early 2024 and that many incremental engines are being removed for shop visits between 2023 and 2026.

“As of right now, we anticipate that these increased shop visits and quicker inspections will have a further negative effect on our operational fleet starting in the fourth quarter (January–March), which is after January 2024, and increase the number of groundings.

“To navigate these challenges, we are in constant contact with our OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer),” Negi stated in an earnings call discussing the results of the September quarter.

According to Negi, the airline is considering a number of possibilities as part of its mitigation efforts, including looking into obtaining more capacity from the secondary market.

According to IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers, “We have taken a whole range of measures… in living up to our capacity guidance of north of mid-teens (for this fiscal),” and he also mentioned that aircraft grounding is a major concern.

For the three months that concluded in September, IndiGo reported a ₹188.9 crore profit.

Source- Livemint