{"text":[[{"start":7.2,"text":"Companies that lease aircraft to airlines have in some cases begun leasing engines rather than whole planes as an industry-wide shortage has sent their rental values soaring."}],[{"start":17.65,"text":"The recent grounding of Spirit Airlines in the US has led to almost-new A320neo aircraft being dismantled for their engines, according to industry executives and analysts."}],[{"start":28.2,"text":"The aircraft are powered by geared turbofan engines from Pratt & Whitney which have been in short supply as the US group has struggled with manufacturing problems. The release of the engines into the market could help ease an industry-wide shortage and reduce the number of aircraft currently grounded, according to industry experts."}],[{"start":46.349999999999994,"text":"Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary said two of the bigger lessors that had reclaimed their aircraft from Spirit in the past two weeks had told him they had “just taken the engines off the aircraft”."}],[{"start":57.05,"text":"“They’re not trying to redeploy the aircraft,” he told the FT. “There’s simply so much money being made by the engine manufacturers — or spare engine suppliers now — it’s more profitable to just take the engines off the aircraft.”"}],[{"start":70.14999999999999,"text":"Engine constraints have been one of the biggest concerns for the industry as manufacturers have struggled to keep up with booming demand for Airbus and Boeing planes. At the same time, problems with some of the newest engines have led to long waits for repairs and a shortage of crucial spares."}],[{"start":87.04999999999998,"text":"Engine lease rates soared last year, prompting some owners to dismantle some Airbus A320neo narrow-body aircraft, equipped with the most fuel-efficient engines. "}],[{"start":97.69999999999999,"text":"Whether to lease an aircraft or its engines is “always quite a complex decision but the balance of decision-making right now is in favour of leasing the engines given the demand”, said aviation analyst Rob Morris."}],[{"start":110.79999999999998,"text":"The engine market, he added, is “still really tight”, with engines from CFM International and P&W coming up for scheduled maintenance and people looking for spare engines to keep their planes flying during the overhaul. "}],[{"start":124.79999999999998,"text":"Industry executives said decisions on whether to lease engines rather than an entire plane were taken on a case-by-case basis, depending on their relative condition. "}],[{"start":134.2,"text":"Remarketing an aircraft can also entail significant work and cost, including reconfiguring the seating and removing the old branding from the previous airline operator. "}],[{"start":144.25,"text":"“It’s probably easier to move an engine right now than an aircraft,” Morris said. "}],[{"start":149.35,"text":"P&W’s GTF engines power at least 40 per cent of all Airbus A320neos in service. They compete with engines from CFM International, the joint venture between GE Aerospace and France’s Safran."}],[{"start":164.54999999999998,"text":"Airbus has been locked in a dispute with P&W over deliveries of engines for new aircraft. The planemaker has complained that the US group has been prioritising deliveries of engines to the in-service fleet of impacted aircraft rather than delivering new engines for Airbus."}],[{"start":181.04999999999998,"text":"Aengus Kelly, chief executive of AerCap, last month told analysts it had taken back aircraft and engines from Frontier Airlines in the US and re-leased the CFM engines as spares, helping to ease overall supply constraints. As part of the deal, AerCap also secured an agreement with Airbus for 100 new A320neo planes with deliveries starting in 2028. "}],[{"start":205.39999999999998,"text":"AerCap is the world’s largest commercial aircraft and engine lessor, as well as providing spare engine capacity. "}],[{"start":212.14999999999998,"text":"The company, Kelly told analysts, was “able to take aircraft and engines out of Frontier, put them into our engine leasing pool, and . . . because we did that, that freed up capacity in the Airbus production line, and we were able to exercise options and get [delivery] slots that no one else in the world could get access to . . . they start in 2028”."}],[{"start":231.84999999999997,"text":"Kelly told the FT that AerCap had done a similar transaction involving planes from Icelandic low-cost operator Play last year. Between the Spirit and the Frontier transactions, AerCap has placed more than 60 engines."}],[{"start":246.64999999999998,"text":"“We built the engine pool to support the manufacturers with spares during maintenance,” said Kelly. By releasing engines from the pool, aircraft were able to keep on flying. "}],[{"start":256.25,"text":"Given the “straightened engine production . . . we had to get engines into the short-term pool to keep planes flying,” added Kelly. "}],[{"start":269.65,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1779960532_6494.mp3"}