SWISS has taken the decision to ground its entire fleet of Airbus A220-100s following persistent issues with the Pratt & Whitney GTF-powered aircraft.

In June 2016, SWISS had the privilege of being the launch customer of the Bombardier CS100 line of aircraft. Following Airbus’ acquisition of the CSeries line, they would eventually be referred to as the Airbus A220 family. Since then, SWISS has taken on 9 A220-100s and 21 of the larger A220-300s.

Unfortunately, the Pratt & Whitney GTF engines used on the entire A220 line and optionally on the A320neo line has proven to be extremely problematic over the past decade. Multiple airlines have been forced to either ground or slow delivery of Airbus aircraft outfitted with these engines.

In the case of the A220s, the PW1500Gs are notorious for corrosion in the high-pressure compressor front hub, resulting in premature cracks popping up sooner than expected. Even though Pratt & Whitney has implemented software fixes and changes to how their engines are produced, the corrosion issue still persists, putting A220 operators in a tough spot.

SWISS has decided to ground its entire fleet of nine A220-100s for 18 months, which will span well into 2027. They have cited reliability concerns with the engines, adding that supply chain issues for spare parts have exacerbated the maintenance side of things. The aircraft will be taken offline from November.

Other than operating short flights mainly across Europe, the A220-100 is capable of landing at London City (LCY) airport, known for its very steep and fast approach. As the A220-300 cannot land there, SWISS will contract its services to Helvetic Airways which operates a fleet of Embraer aircraft.

swiss a220 1
Credit: Anna Zvereva

What about the other routes? SWISS’s -100s and -300s use a very similar variant of the PW1500G, meaning they will be able to use spare engines originally destined to go to its -100s, for their grounded -300s instead.

SWISS isn’t the only carrier plagued by issues with PW engines. Air Austral decided to retire all three of its A220-300s due to excessive ground times. EgyptAir ditched their entire fleet of 12 A220s in 2024, while others like Delta, Korean, airBaltic, JetBlue and others have cited serious concerns regarding engine reliability.

Cirium data suggests that just about 22% of Airbus A220 units were in storage in October 2025. In total, of the 2100+ aircraft powered by PW GTF engine variants, more than 30% were grounded in the same month. With SWISS’s -100s expected to be offline for a year and a half, it wouldn’t be surprising if the carrier decided to drop the entire line at some point in the future, in favor of another aircraft type.  

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