Airbus delays delivery of A321neo jets to Hawaiian Air

Hawaiian Holdings Inc. has announced an anticipated three-month delay on a delivery of A321neos from Airbus, months after the European plan manufacturer appeared to be getting back on track to its 2016 delivery goals.

Hawaiian said in a filing posted to its website on Monday that Airbus had notified it of the holdup on the three narrow-body jets, pushing their expected delivery to the fourth quarter of 2017.

The carrier did not detail the cause of the delay, but "Airbus mentioned on its last earnings call A321neo delays were likely due to problems with Pratt & Whitney’s GTF engine and associated ramp-up challenges," Wolfe Research analyst Hunter Keay said in a research note.

Airbus' delivery schedule has been plagued by delays in recent months. The company's deliveries started the year below trend because of problems with supplies of engines and cabin parts, including the Pratt & Whitney Geared Turbofan engine that required extra time for cooling before restarting under some circumstances.

Some versions of the A321 will now come equipped with CFM engines, known as the LEAP-1A and made by a joint venture of General Electric Co. and Safran SA of France, expected to reach customers in early 2017.

(Alana Wise - Reuters)