Cancellations mounted at Spirit Airlines on Friday as the airline cited “necessary” inspections for some of its aircraft.
Data from FlightAware shows Spirit had canceled roughly 100 flights or 11 percent of its daily operations by Friday afternoon. Spirit said 25 aircraft were being inspected and the FAA was aware of the situation. It did not release the reason for the inspections. The FAA said it “will ensure that the matter is addressed before the airplanes are returned to service.” Spirit operates only A320s, and the only recent AD (an engine issue that resulted from a potential maintenance error) on the type says no U.S. aircraft are involved. The FAA responded to our late-Sunday request for more details on the inspection and we have, in turn, asked for clarification on that response.
“While this action is being taken out of an abundance of caution, the impact to our network is expected to last several days as we complete the inspections and work to return to normal operations,” Spirit said in a statement.
The Associated Press reported that the majority of flights impacted were at Orlando International Airport where Spirit has a large presence. This year the airline has canceled more than 3,600 flights or 1.5 percent of its schedule.
Friday’s cancellations come as the airline is about to release its quarter three earnings, expected on Oct. 26.
The AD issue involves the Pratt GTF engines on the 320&321Neo’s, if I’m not mistaken. The issue affects and will affect all operators of this engine world wide and has been on the near horizon for a while, allowing airlines to make plans for groundings. Bad for operators and, of course, the flying public – but good that Pratt is making good on the safety of its product.