FARNBOROUGH, England. 19 July 2018. Pratt & Whitney, a division of United Technologies Corp., announces that the Pratt & Whitney GTF engine will power up to 60 Airbus A220 aircraft ordered under a memorandum of understanding by a start-up airline to be based in the United States. The first aircraft is scheduled to be delivered in 2021.

“It is an exciting time as we begin to build our fleet in 2021,” said David Neeleman, chief executive officer of the start-up airline. “We look forward to the fuel savings, environmental benefits and passenger friendliness of the GTF-powered A220 aircraft.”

“Pratt & Whitney is incredibly excited to be one of the first to work alongside David Neeleman in helping to build this airline,” said Rick Deurloo, senior vice president of sales, marketing and customer support at Pratt & Whitney. “We are proud to share the latest game-changing technology and benefits of the GTF.”

To date, the GTF-powered A220 fleet has flown more than 150,000 engine flight hours with three operators, traveling to 145 destinations. The GTF engines for the A220 continue to meet performance benefits including up to 20 percent lower fuel consumption, 50 percent reduction in nitrogen oxide emissions to CAEP/6, and 75 percent reduction in noise footprint.