Cebu Pacific Air says it will moderate next year鈥檚 rapid expansion plans as it grapples with more Airbus SE aircraft groundings than anticipated because of Pratt & Whitney鈥檚 global backlog of engine repairs.
The Philippines鈥 largest airline expects to grow between 5% to 15% in 2026 while navigating challenges of defective aircraft engines, Chief Executive Officer Mike Szucs told Bloomberg TV.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a wide window at the moment as we try and understand exactly the situation on the GTF engine,鈥 Mr. Szucs said.
The engine crisis is triggering sharp growth pullbacks among carriers worldwide, from Europe鈥檚 Wizz Air Holdings Plc. to the ailing Florida-based Spirit Airlines Inc.
The ongoing fluctuations in availability of aircraft and jet engines is consuming Cebu Pacific鈥檚 management, with fleet planning occurring three times a week instead of once a month.
鈥淣one of us have encountered this situation where you have so much variability or so much uncertainty in your available fleet,鈥 Mr. Szucs said.
He said he expects it will take Pratt & Whitney, a subsidiary of US aerospace giant RTX Corp., until early 2028 to resolve its geared turbofan engines fixes.
Cebu Pacific currently has 16 Airbus A320neo family jets 鈥 out of a fleet of 91 planes 鈥 grounded and awaiting engine fixes.
Mr. Szucs said the airline鈥檚 annual growth target for 2025 will be in the range of 13% to 15%. The airline鈥檚 goal for this year had been as high as 25%, he said.
Nonetheless, the airline鈥檚 latest target is 鈥渟till a very healthy growth rate on a full-year basis,鈥 he said, adding it is 鈥渘ot where we鈥檇 like to be.鈥
The airline expects third-quarter capacity to grow in the single-digits, reflecting the year鈥檚 weakest travel period, Mr. Szucs said. Cebu Pacific is holding more aircraft for its peak final quarter and the Christmas season. 鈥 Bloomberg
