Why United Airlines Chose Pratt & Whitney Engines For Its Airbus A321neos

During the 2023 Paris Air Show, many were taken aback by United Airlines' surprise announcement regarding the engines to power its future A321neo family fleet, an order consisting of 70 A321neo and 50 A321XLR aircraft. The carrier sided with Pratt & Whitney geared turbofan (GTF) engines - more specifically, the PW1000G. Given Pratt and Whitney’s challenges at the time, many were surprised that United didn't opt for the competing CFM Leap-1A for its A321neo fleet. One year and many new issues later, the situation is even worse with the GTF engines. So for today’s video, let’s take a look at why United sided with Pratt and Whitney rather than CFM…

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[keith_]

Dude, 3 videos in 4 hours? You are killing it.

[Sacto]

I wonder a factor of United being able to repair engines on its own with Pratt & Whitney's full approval means that United could replace defective parts at its major maintenance bases in San Francisco and Indianapolis (for starters!). Delta Airlines services all the jet engines of the airline fleet at several maintenance bases, particularly TechOps in Atlanta; they are certified by Pratt & Whitney to do full engin teardowns and upgrades.

[Capt.OggyPeabodyOfficial]

Cebu Pacific had struck a US$24, 000, 000, 000 deal to purchase over 150 Airbus A320neo aircrafts and opted to choose PW Engines instead of CFM LEAP

[redonebeatbox]

Probably someone at PW promised huge discounts and bonuses to someone in UA, in exchange for public support by ordering those engines in such hard times for PW

[SamuelBarringer]

I was not surprised about United Airlines choosing Pratt & Whitney engines for their Airbus a321 NEO’s. United Airlines has used Pratt & Whitney engines for decades. The Boeing 747’s, for many years their Boeing 757’s, their Boeing 767’s and many of their Boeing 777’s have used Pratt & Whitney engines.

[josen]

Historically speaking, United has always used P&W engines. Not to mention the fuel consumption advantages, and their ability to repair future engines it makes sense for them.

[banstaman]

It is also worth understanding that with the A320ceo, they were IAE and not CFM. IAE is largely P&W so they were probably able to score a better deal and service contracts.

[Plen]

As long as the issues are resolved soon, plus the fact new gtf engines have gotten better than old ones, this seems like a good decision for operational performance. A good example is the Qantas group where Jetstar needs the simplicity and reliability of CFM while Qantas can bear the cost and go with performance with the gtf like United.

[Tpr_]

United and PW are like a married couple, for the 777, 757/767, 747 and probably any type that has it as an option

[JLC-pr]

On E2-195 these work great. quiet and powerful, and no issues so far. But I am not a fan of the loud moaning they make when reducing speed or acellerating.

[FitzArias]

The family factor is part of it.
Boeing, United, and PW will forever be related. Even Continental is not a distant relative of United. it is not surprising these two related airlines eventually merged.
I hope UA will have better luck than the airlines who bought the early GTF engine units. One airline already went bankrupt because of it.

[icare]

The current major P&W GTF issue was due to a contamination metal powder from a supplier.

The powder is used to create major turbofan engine parts which also negatively affected other turbo fan engine manufacturers such as GE.

The P&W revolutionary game changer planetary gearbox has been flawless.

P&W GTF Engines are the most fuel efficient, environmentally friendly and quietest turbo fan engines available today.

[uhhhwhat]

Just a heads up, United is going to lease CFM LEAP A321neo's (no I don't think its due to the PW engine issues).

[KevinBenskin]

Most of United fleet are powered by Pratt and Whitney

[evildoctorbluetooth]

United placed the order in 2023. It is likely they won't receive their planes for a couple of years.

I think they were gambling that the issues faced by the GTF engine would be over by the time the plane is delivered, while also being able to leverage the issues the GTF is facing now, into a cheaper purchasing price.

[rodneynicholls]

why haven't you mentioned the advantages of the planetary gear set that drives the fan on the pratt and Whitney engines.

[RedRoosterParty]

The GTF is a better engine. The current AOGs are caused by a supplier quality issue, not a design issue. The replacements will be complete and the engine will generate long term savings for United.

[worldcitizenobjectivethink]

I think, looking at their decision they took, United were only driven by maximizing their profits. If you look at the gear ratio of the Pratt & Whitney compared to the CFM it was a clear choice that anyone would had chosen for the Pratt & Whitney from a commercial viewpoint. No one could had known back then that Pratt & Whitney engines would had major problems.
Some decisions shouldn't be driven by a commercial point of view or the marketing from engine or airplane manufactures.
In hindsight United would be better off profits wise with the CFM engines than Pratt & Whitney engines that needed to be grounded.

[JungleJetAviation]

The engine has to be much cheaper than the CFM option…there’s no way it isn’t cheaper if airlines still continue to choose such an unreliable engine and are not purchasing the one that proves time and time again that it works.

[icare]

United Airlines is 100% correct in purchasing P&W GTF as current new engines coming off the production lines have significant refinements, improvements and in fact are even more fuel efficient than the earlier produced GFT engines for the A320 series of aircraft.