Rolls-Royce snag extends to Airbus

The glitches with Rolls-Royce Holdings engines that have dogged Boeing’s 787 wide-body aircraft are also an issue for the A330neo model from Airbus.

Rolls-Royce’s Trent 7000 turbine, the only one available on the Airbus aircraft, shares durability problems afflicting the Trent 1000 from which it was developed, according to people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be identified discussing concerns that have not been made public.

A Rolls-Royce spokesman confirmed the A330neo issues in response to questions from Bloomberg. The upgraded version of the Trent 1000, the Trent 1000 Ten, which Rolls is offering as a replacement for the original turbine, was also affected, the manufacturer said.

The earlier Trent 1000 snag has led to unscheduled shop visits for dozens of 787s at carriers including Virgin Atlantic and British Airways, costing the engine maker more than £220m in charges in 2017. While the A330neo has not entered service, the Trent 7000 glitch was of concern to Airbus because it could deter buyers, one of the people said.

Parts of the A330neo engine are being redesigned, though most fixes would not be available until about six months after the first aircraft is due for its first delivery this summer, according to one of the people.

It is “possible that a population of early Trent 1000 Ten and Trent 7000 engines may benefit from proactive maintenance to embody parts in their first shop visit that weren’t available at the point of production,” RollsRoyce said. “This is normal practice at the very start of a new engine production programme.”

A redesigned turbine blade that was being rolled out with the 787 would be used on the Trent 7000 and would be ready to ship with the A330neo’s first delivery, Rolls said.

The blades have been the biggest area of distress for the firm and the most expensive to fix.

Airbus, based in Toulouse, France, had no comment.

The share price of Londonbased Rolls-Royce was down 2.3% at the close on Friday at 861.20p. Airbus fell 1.8% to €92.92 in Paris.

The turbine issue is a setback for Airbus as it seeks to win new deals for the already slow-selling A330neo, an aircraft distinguished from the original A330 chiefly by its upgraded engines. The model is already six months late due to earlier engine design problems and a lack of testing capacity at Rolls-Royce.

Bloomberg News reported on Friday that the European manufacturer’s talks with American Airlines on a possible A330neo order had ended, clearing the way for Boeing to win the business.