Originally Posted by
13901
I don't know if there's a delay in getting the engines chosen, after all the planes were signed off (from a business case point of view) towards the end of last year. Getting the config etc ready takes time.
I've heard problems with the time on wing of the Trent XWBs being voiced by the airline community before Covid. One would argue that the problem is minor compared to the debacle that was the Trent 1000 blade cracking, but the airlines have been making noises for a while, and getting to the right level of performance will require a lot of time and effort. Still, my reading is that the biggest issue is not so much the fact that the XWBs need overhauling faster than expected (that's more of a problem for the ME3s) but the fact that the new CEO of RR is after profit margins and he's got a heap of power-by-the-hour contracts that aren't conducive to healthy margins for RR. That'll hamper sales (well, it's already doing so).
I was under the impression the concerns regarding time on wing were very much those of EK due to the conditions in the region (heat & sand), which would likely shorten time on wing for all engines, although this wouldn't explain how QR and EY are able to operate the A35K in the exact same conditions. Maybe EK are just after better pricing!
Korean Air have just this morning ordered 27 A35Ks, so even RR aren't hampering sales in this instance.