Pratt & Whitney’s GTF Advantage Cleared For A320neo

Pratt & Whitney has received FAA certification for the upgraded Advantage version of its PW1100G geared turbofan (GTF) that powers the A320neo, marking a key milestone in the engine-maker's long-term push for increased market share on the Airbus single-aisle family.

The improved configuration is the first major derivative of the PW1100G since its debut on the A320neo in 2014, and incorporates a set of materials, design and airflow upgrades in the low- and high-pressure spools. The combination is designed to produce a 4% thrust improvement at sea level and up to 8% at higher elevations, all without increasing operating temperatures. The Advantage also reduces fuel burn by a further 1% compared with the current engine, Pratt says.

“It really is the next evolution of the GTF architecture and right now is the only next evolution so far for any engine on the A320neo,” says Rick Deurloo, Pratt's president of commercial engines. “We like that 1% fuel burn, because we already feel we have a pretty strong position on fuel burn versus our competitor, so this only creates a little bit more of a distance.”

First production versions of the PW1100G Advantage are expected to be shipped to Airbus around the end of the year with initial entry-into-service due in 2026. Pratt also plans to start a multi-year transition to production of the new engine as the variant later this year, Deurloo says. The new standard engine will be interoperable and interchangeable with the current generation, the manufacturer says.

The changes include increased airflow in the core to lower operating temperatures and an improved hot section to increase time on wing. In the high-pressure turbine (HPT), enhancements include an advanced airfoil design with improved coatings. The HPT and combustor also feature optimized cooling hole size, shape and location, with improved water jet drilling techniques to reduce oxidation.

But elements of the Advantage, which was launched four years ago, will also be used by Pratt to recover ground in its long-running efforts to improve the durability of the baseline PW1100G. The upgraded version incorporates fully redesigned life-limited parts which are targeted at providing full durability right “out of the box,” adds Deurloo.

“A lot of the learnings that we got out of the Advantage we're bringing back into the base,” Deurloo says. “So even at maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) visits today, we've started to incorporate that.” 

The package of durability enhancements includes the optimized HPT and combustor cooling configuration, advanced HPT first stage blade with improved coatings, and a revised No.3 bearing compartment.

“Probably around a year from now it will be the configuration we deliver as a production engine to Airbus. We are starting with MRO. Then, once we get to rate, we'll start converting over to production as well,” he says. 

Designed to introduce a “step change” improvement, the enhancement package is “going to enable the base engine to get roughly 90-95% of the durability benefit of the Advantage,” Deurloo says. “We have to go get it certified and industrialized, but this is a big step for us.”

The enhancements for the current generation are focused on regaining the engine’s original life targets rather than adding extra thrust or fuel burn capability, he stresses. The process of retrofitting engines “is going to take two, three, four years to really penetrate the entire fleet. But we think this really will start bringing everything back into a normalized time on wing—which is what our customers and what we need to have happen,” Deurloo says.

Pratt is in parallel also continuing to ramp up production of full-life parts affected by the ongoing contaminated powder metal (PM) inspection program. New engines have been shipping with full-life parts since late 2023. However, engines coming in for inspections are still leaving with original parts subject to reduced service lives.

The Advantage development and certification effort, which included flight testing on the company’s Boeing 747SP flying testbed, also involved additional durability evaluations. These were designed to wring out potential endurance issues like those which impacted the initial engine fleet in harsh operating environments such as Asia and the Middle East. Pratt says the GTF Advantage accomplished more than twice the amount of testing compared to the current GTF engine.

The extended test program included ingestion trials with a variety of sand and dust particle sizes to evaluate the robustness of the design against the effect of the dust and other particulates. Lessons learned from in-service experience with the initial engine variant revealed corrosive environments could cause air-seal leakage in bearings which allowed particles to enter the oil system and trigger detector alerts.

Pratt later solved the issue with better seals and other upgrades, but the expensive episode led to a doubling down on pre-service testing for the Advantage version. The rigorous evaluation also included a military-style Accelerated Mission Testing (AMT) phase which simulated repeated operating cycles in rapid succession. After the AMT, the engine was torn down and the parts inspected to evaluate their condition.

Formal clearance of the Advantage comes within days of that PW1100G-powered A321XLR version receiving European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) certification. That milestone clears the way for entry into commercial service of the derivative with Wizz Air in the coming weeks. “We'll start with FAA certification this week,” Deurloo says.

Pratt delivered 996 large commercial engines in 2024—a 14% increase over 2023’s 875.