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Swiss Airbus A220s returning to service a day after grounding

Zach Wichter
Zach Wichter
Aviation Industry Reporter
Zach has been interested in things that go since he was a kid. He previously worked at The New York Times and spent much of his time there covering the aviation industry, including contributing to the paper’s reporting on the 737 Max crisis at Boeing. He grew up in Bethpage, on Long Island, and graduated from Northwestern University in 2013 where he majored in journalism and gender and sexuality studies.
Oct. 16, 2019
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2 min read
Swiss A220 ZRH KBP
Swiss Airbus A220s returning to service a day after grounding
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Swiss International Air Lines' fleet of Airbus A220s are returning to service Wednesday, marking progress for the carrier after it grounded all of the planes a day earlier.

The airline's A220s have suffered engine reliability issues and were grounded for inspections, which began Tuesday. Swiss currently operates 29 of the aircraft.

"On Tuesday afternoon and overnight 17 C Series/A220 aircraft have been inspected. The engines are in perfect condition, so 12 aircraft have returned to regular flight operations. Another five planes will follow at midday on Wednesday," Swiss said in a statement to Reuters.

Some A220 routes were still seeing cancellations Wednesday, with Swiss offering rebooking options for those affected. Swiss expects its schedule to return to normal Thursday.

Meanwhile, the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board is leading an investigation into the ongoing issues with the engines, which are manufactured by Pratt & Whitney.

Swiss is the world's largest operator of the A220, but Delta is close behind. The Atlanta-based carrier has 25 A220s currently in its fleet.

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Delta said its A220 fleet "is flying routinely," noting that its aircraft are compliant with an FAA airworthiness directive from September that called for inspections to the A220's engines.

"Safety is always Delta's top priority and we'll always meet or exceed safety, inspection and maintenance recommendations from manufacturers as well as directives from the U.S. FAA," the airline added in its statement to TPG.

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