Is the Profit Party Over? Wizz Air Reports 44% Drop in Earnings as Aircraft Groundings Bite
Skift Take
Wizz Air is being hit harder than most by an industry-wide engine grounding. On Thursday, the European low-cost giant gave investors an update detailing just how badly its fleet is being impacted.
At the end of June, Wizz had 46 jets out of action due to inspections - that's around one in every five of its planes.
The root cause is quality problems with some Pratt & Whitney engines that power the airline’s Airbus A320neo aircraft. These new-generation jets make up almost two-thirds of Wizz Air’s fleet.
In July 2023, the manufacturer discovered that some of its geared turbofan units produced between 2015 and 2021 had contaminated powdered metal. If left unchecked, this could interfere with the regular function of the engines.
In a sobering update, Wizz predicted that the problem is not going away anytime soon. On Thursday, the airline said it expects the peak of the groundings to come in September 2025, when 47 plan
