Pratt & Whitney PW6000: The unluckiest jet engine ever?
A Pratt & Whitney PW6000 mounted on a testbed Airbus A318. Photo credit.
In the 1990s, Airbus conducted research about an aircraft even smaller than the A319, at the time their smallest aircraft. Said aircraft, initially dubbed the AE31X, would be a cleansheet design and seat around 100 people - approximately the size of an E190 or Fokker 100. The project comprised of two variants, the shorter AE316 and the longer AE317. Initially, three manufacturers proposed engine offerings for this aircraft: Rolls-Royce/BMW, CFM International and Pratt & Whitney.
Disagreements between partners resulted in the cancellation of the project, however Airbus had already been studying a simple shrink of the A319. Initially dubbed the A319M5, this aircraft would evolve into the A318.
At first, the aircraft was a great choice for customers, as it was planned to be a regional jet that would use the extensive A320 infrastructure already available all over the world, meaning that, despite the aircraft being less efficient than something like an E190, the ease of maintenance and crew availability would make up for it. Therfore, the aircraft was a sales hit. The PW6000, which was supposed to be the aircraft’s launch engine option, also sold in high numbers during that period. Unfortunately, factors within and outside Airbus and Pratt & Whitney’s control were about to hit.
Firstly, the terrorist attacks on September 11th, 2001 shook up the entire aviation industry. The A318 was hit especially hard, as most flights worldwide are regional and short haul (just look at the insane number of A320s and 737s sold). Following these terrible events, a massive industry consolidation in the US began, with TWA, with an order for 50 A318s, being bough by American Airlines, and the entire order being cancelled immediately.
TWA had a large order for 50 Airbus A318s before it was bough by American Airlines and the order subsequently cancelled. Photo credit.
Further complicating the A318’s situation, it turns out that, unlike what Airbus had initially hoped, the aircraft was not classified as a regional jet by either the FAA or the EASA, meaning it would be subject to higher airport fees. This resulted in many airlines converting their A318 orders into larger A320 family aircraft, as their operational cost was virtually the same, but could carry many more passengers. America West had orders for 15 A318s equipped with PW6000 engines, which were eventually converted into A319s and/or additional A320s (of which they had ordered 12).
Setting the nail in the coffin for the PW6000, it turned out that its original design burned more fuel than intended. This turned even more airlines away from this engine choice, forcing Pratt & Whitney to extensively redesign it, particularly the compressor, which went from 5 stages to 6, delaying the engine’s entry into service by over two years. This was the final straw for the engine, as the last few remaining airlines with orders for it switched to the CFM56, including the A318’s launch customer, Frontier Airlines.
In the end, only 15 A318s with PW6000 engines were built (excluding testbed aircraft), all delivered to one customer, LAN Airlines. These aircraft had a short life in Chile, with the first being introduced in May 2007 and the last being retired in September 2013. During that time, a few of them were transferred to LAN Ecuador for a short time before being reincorporated into the LAN Chile fleet.
However, it wasn’t the end for the PW6000 yet. In the early 2010s, Avianca Brasil was expanding its fleet with A319 and A320 aircraft, as well as looking for a replacement for their 14 Fokker 100s. Given the A318’s poor economics, even more so with an odd engine choice with higher maintenance costs, the aircraft were likely sold for very cheap. Therefore, Avianca Brasil decided it was good enough of a replacement, as it was mostly common with their new A319s and A320s - it was probably easier to maintain a shortened A320 than an entirely different aircraft built by a long defunct manufacturer, despite the odd engine choice. In a phenomenal coincidence, the amount of A318s that LAN wanted to get rid of (15) very closely matched the amount of Fokker 100s Avianca Brasil wanted to replace (14).
All three operators of the A318 with PW6000 engines: Lan Chile, Lan Ecuador and Avianca Brasil.
Avianca Brasil received its first A318 from LAN in April 2011. However, despite the PW6000’s colossal failure, there were two versions of it: the original PW6122A, which equipped the A318-121, and the improved PW6124A, which powered the A318-122, as Avianca requested said conversions not long after they started receiving the Chilean aircraft. They would remain in operation until May 2019, when the airline collapsed. However, given the lack of spare parts for the engines following the end of the A318 program, therfore ending official PW6000 support in the process, many aircraft would start being parked long before that.
What remains of the PW6000 in 2025? Not much. Given the aircraft’s extremely low resale value, as well as the absence of another near perfect occasion to sell these aircraft in flying condition, most of them were scrapped. As far as my research could go, there are at most three ex-Avianca Brasil airframes remaining: PR-ONO, fully preserved at Hangar Morretes, PR-AVK, allegedly with its fuselage at SBBR for training purposes, and PR-ONR, which was preserved (although partly disassembled) at Sucatas Bim as of April 2024.
PR-ONR seen at Sucatas Bim in March 2023. Photo credit.