European regulators are grounding a huge portion of the manufacturer's fleet
Europe fears that Airbus’s (AIR) problems with its double-aisle jetliner might be more widespread than a single worrying incident in Hong Kong. The South China Morning Post reports that the European Union Aviation Safety Agency will be grounding many of the planes to figure out if more of them might run into problems.
“We will require a one-time fleet inspection, which may be applicable only to a portion of the A350 fleet, in order to identify and remove from service any potentially compromised high-pressure fuel hoses,” the agency said in a statement, according to the outlet.
Earlier this week, Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific said that it would be carrying out a precautionary inspection of its A350 fleet after it cancelled several flights because of a component failure in the plane’s Rolls-Royce engines on a flight from Hong Kong to Zurich. The flight had an engine fire and had to return to its departure point.
Airbus told Reuters that it acknowledges the European regulator’s action and said it was “working closely with (engine maker) Rolls-Royce and the authorities on the implementation of this precautionary measure.”
This isn’t the first time engine trouble has gummed up the works for Airbus. The company is still working out the full extent of issues from RTX subsidiary Pratt & Whitney’s units that had faulty turbine and compressor discs. The issue was so bad that Spirit Airlines said it would get as much as $200 million for lost revenue from planes it couldn’t fly.
The whole mess is another setback in Airbus’s plans to take full advantage of the struggles at Boeing $BA, the other half of a global planemaking duopoly. Earlier this year, Airbus cut its guidance after suggesting that it would be able to kick Boeing while it was down.
Rocio Fabbro contributed to this article.
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