Turbine jet-powered airplanes are the highest maintenance vehicles on the planes, so being cut off from the necessary firehose of spare parts will have consequences. Currently, half of the Airbus A320neo and 321neo planes in Russia can’t fly due to maintenance issues. Most of the grounded aircraft desperately need new engine parts.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine deservedly brought down widespread economic sanctions from Western countries. While Russian industry has attempted to become self-sufficient, US-based Boeing and European-based Airbus hold a duopoly on commercial airliners. This meant Russian Boeing and Airbus operators couldn’t order spare parts or have their planes serviced in countries with access to parts.
Of the 66 Airbus A320neo and A321 planes in Russia, 34 jets are no longer flying. These planes make up ten percent of the country’s entire commercial fleet. Some of the planes are still functional but have been put in reserve until the country’s busy travel, Simple Flying reports. Russian carrier S7 Airlines owned 31 grounded planes and is attempting to reverse engineer parts of the Airbus’ CFM engines.
The Russian aviation industry will have to find a way to survive, but attempting to fabricate its own parts for Western-built planes is a recipe for disaster. The country’s carriers can’t even purchase newly-built Comac airliners from its ally China because they are also fitted with CFM engines. The sanctions are working as intended. I just hope that there isn’t a passenger plane crash before Russia permanently grounds its Airbus and Boeing jets.
