Spirit grounds more airplanes

Spirit Airlines has grounded seven planes due to problems with its Pratt & Whitney engines and the carrier expects to take more aircraft out of service in the coming weeks.

The budget carrier said Thursday that another seven jets will be removed after Labor Day through the end of the year and potentially more after that as the engine-maker assesses the full scope of a recently identified issue.

Pratt parent RTX last week disclosed a manufacturing flaw in the geared turbofan that will require removal and inspection of more than 1,000 engines worldwide.

“This new issue is yet another frustrating and disappointing development,” Spirit Chief Executive Officer Ted Christie said on a conference call to discuss quarterly results.

The carrier expects to learn later in September how many more of its engines might be affected.

The comments underscore the growing dissatisfaction by airline customers as Pratt tries to get a handle on another glitch with the engine, which is one of two options to power the top-selling Airbus A320neo family of jets.

Hyundai and Kia recall 92K cars

Hyundai and Kia are recalling 92,000 U.S. vehicles, telling owners in a message dated Wednesday to park their cars outside and away from structures in case damaged electrical components overheat and cause a fire.

The two Korean automakers, which share a manufacturer, said the issue lies with certain vehicles’ electric oil pump controllers.

Hyundai models that may be affected are 2023 and 2024 Palisade, Tucson, Sonata, Elantra and Kona vehicles. Kia is recalling some 2023 and 2024 Soul, Sportage and Selto vehicles, according to federal documents posted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

The problem occurs when “the electronic controller for the Idle Stop & Go oil pump assembly contains damaged electrical components that can cause the pump controller to overheat” causing the risk of fire, the automakers said in statements to the federal traffic safety agency.

From wire reports