IATA CALLS FOR WIDER ENGINE-PARTS COMPETITION AFTER P&WC CHANGES

The International Air Transport Association has welcomed changes by Pratt & Whitney Canada (P&WC) to contractual terms that had raised competition concerns in the market for used engine parts. The changes, which followed a European Commission Directorate-General for Competition investigation, remove restrictions on maintenance shops in P&WC’s network that could have limited independent suppliers’ access to used engine material and related service. They are limited to used parts for P&WC’s PT6 and PW100-series turboprop engines, and do not cover Pratt & Whitney’s larger commercial jet engines or the use of regulator-approved alternative parts and repairs.

WHY AFTERMARKET ACCESS MATTERS

Restricting which maintenance shops and part suppliers an airline can use tends to concentrate pricing power with the engine manufacturer’s own network, which IATA argues has contributed to the parts shortages and maintenance capacity constraints many operators have faced. PT6 and PW100-series turboprops power a large share of the regional and utility aircraft flying in Africa, so restrictions in this segment bear directly on the kind of operators WAN covers, even though this particular change is confined to Canada-built turboprop engines rather than the wider jet fleet. “The European Commission Directorate-General for Competition’s work has resulted in Pratt & Whitney Canada making changes that will bring more competition and choice to one part of the turboprop engine aftermarket. But critically, the principles of fair access, competition and customer choice should apply across the entire engine aftermarket. Whatever engine an airline is using, the airline should have the freedom to choose among all regulator-approved maintenance facilities and regulator-approved parts and repairs. In the short term, this could play a significant role in alleviating parts shortages and maintenance capacity constraints that have increased costs and grounded aircraft. And in the long term, the sector needs the efficiencies that more competition can bring to the engine aftermarket,” said Nick Careen, IATA’s Senior Vice President Operations, Safety and Security.

PART OF A WIDER PUSH

An IATA-Oliver Wyman study estimated that supply chain constraints added some $5.7 billion to airlines’ engine leasing and maintenance costs in 2025. IATA points to the P&WC changes alongside its own renewed agreement with CFM International, reached earlier in 2026, which similarly aims to widen maintenance options and support the use of all regulator-approved parts and repairs across CFM’s commercial engine portfolio.