Japan Airlines to retire 777 planes with Pratt & Whitney engines

Japan Airlines’ move comes a year earlier than planned and on the heels of incidents on some flights.

Japan Airlines Co Ltd (JAL) said it had retired its fleet of 13 Boeing Co 777s with Pratt & Whitney engines a year earlier than planned, having suspended operations in February after an engine on a United Airlines plane shed debris. “JAL has decided to accelerate the retirement of all P&W equipped Boeing 777 by March 2021, which (was) originally planned by March 2022,” the Japanese airline said on Monday in a notice on its website. JAL said it would use newer Airbus SE A350s on domestic routes to Osaka’s Itami Airport and use planes that normally serve international destinations for other domestic routes to help maintain flight frequencies.