MTU plans to increase output of Pratt & Whitney PW1100G geared turbofans from its Munich plant to around 200 engines over the full course of 2019, and to 250 in 2020.
The manufacturer assembles the PW1100G – an option on the Airbus A320neo family – in the German city and is responsible for around one-third of deliveries.
Speaking at a results briefing on 20 February, MTU chief executive Reiner Winkler acknowledged that GTF production was interrupted in early 2018, which led to an eight-week suspension of deliveries of PW1100G-powered A320neo-family jets. MTU delivered 125 PW1100Gs in 2018.
But Winkler says that despite the delays, P&W met "all milestones" against Airbus's 2018 delivery plan.
Meanwhile, P&W's total output of PW1000G-series engines last year, including those for the A220 and Embraer E190-E2, "nearly doubled" versus 2017, he notes.
MTU as a routine assembles PW1100G engines five days per week, across two shifts per day.
However, the company has arrangements to extend regular 7h shifts to 10h and add a sixth working day, which together will increase capacity by 72%.
That option was used in 2018 to mitigate the delivery delays earlier that year.
P&W has two assembly lines for the PW1100G, both in the USA: one in Middletown, near Hartford in Connecticut; and the other in West Palm Beach, Florida.
Each facility accounts for 35% of the output, while MTU’s Munich site is responsible for the remainder.
Winkler says MTU is ready to "support" Airbus's target of raising production of A320neo-family jets to 63 aircraft per month in 2021.
This article has been updated to clarify that there are two P&W assembly lines of the PW1100G, rather than the PW1000G series
Source: FlightGlobal.com
