ANA Holdings Inc., the world’s biggest operator of Boeing Co.’s Dreamliner jet, is checking the Rolls-Royce Holdings Plc engines on its fleet of 787s after investigating a February incident when an aircraft had to shut down a power plant and return to the airport.
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The Japanese carrier said it has canceled nine flights with the aircraft on Friday and will ground more than 300 through September-end. ANA is replacing medium pressure turbine blades on the planes, Mr Kikuchi said.
The problem with the Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 engines is due to corrosion of some compressor blades, which may be linked to the airline’s use of the 787 on short-haul routes. ANA encountered the issue of corrosion in turbine blades three times since February, Mr Kikuchi said.
This time the problem is with the Rolls-Royce engines that are fitted to around a third of the planes.
It did not say whether the problem had been found in engines on aircraft operated by other airlines.
We are aware of the situation and are working with ANA and Rolls-Royce to resolve any issues impacting the airplanes in-service. The airline, which was the initial customer for the 787 in 2011, operates nearly a third of Dreamliners globally that fly with Trent 1000 engines, according to a Morgan Stanley research report.
In a note, Morgan Stanley analysts pointed out that a previous corrosion issue on the Trent 1000 gearbox in 2012 was quickly resolved and the then chief executive said the financial consequences were not material.
“We expect the new derivative will have been created to avoid the issues of its predecessor”, Rowbotham wrote. “Safety is our top priority, so we are communicating closely with Rolls-Royce and Boeing and performing inspections and maintenance on the aircraft involved”.
Bucking the trend entirely, shares in ANA Holdings, which is listed in Tokyo, closed up 1.6 per cent at ¥279.5.
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The move followed ANA’s grounding of a domestic Dreamliner flight earlier in the day, which was also blamed on unspecified engine problems.
