Viva Aerobus plans to lease aircraft to replace the A320neo family fleet, which will undergo Pratt & Whitney engine inspections between 2024 and 2026. The Mexican airline intends to incorporate these planes through a wet leasing agreement. This was reported by Adrián Torija, Technical Director of Operations, through a letter to the staff.
According to information provided by Pratt & Whitney to its customers, A320neo family aircraft equipped with their engines will need to remain grounded (AOG) for an extended period to carry out detailed inspections of their components. The aircraft are expected to be AOG for a considerable time due to the limited number of certified workshops for these tasks.
To prevent flight cancellations and rescheduling, and thus avoid further inconvenience to customers, Viva Aerobus will seek a provider that can lease them the aircraft along with their respective crew. A challenge for the airline is that Mexico currently does not have any company that offers this service, which will lead to airplanes from other countries operating for Viva Aerobus in the second half of 2024.
The choice of wet leasing is based on the ability to immediately return the aircraft once the airline’s own aircraft are reincorporated, thus avoiding having to keep them in the fleet until the lease contract ends. This move will pause Viva Aerobus’s expansion plans until the situation is normalized.
Additionally, at this time Mexican aviation is facing uncertainties related to oil prices, exchange rate volatility, slot reordering, among other factors. Accelerated growth would have negative repercussions, so cautious action is required.
The Federal Civil Aviation Agency (AFAC) has authorized the airline to finalize the leases under the wet leasing mode. Viva Aerobus has previously resorted to this strategy, especially in its early days, when the arrival of new aircraft to start operations was delayed.
However, Viva Aerobus clarified that they are working with the aircraft provider and authorities to enable their crew to operate them, an issue that could be resolved before the summer season of 2024.
