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STORY: Airlines could face chaos over a flaw found in some jet engines.

U.S. maker Pratt & Whitney says its found a risk of cracks in its geared turbofans.

They’re fitted to hundreds of planes made by Airbus.

Up to 700 engines may now have to be pulled off the A320neo aircraft for checks.

And repairs could be a slow process - up to 300 days per engine.

That’s according to Pratt parent firm RTX Corp - until recently known as Raytheon.

Overall, it says up to 650 planes could be stuck on the ground during the first half of next year.

Shares in the firm sank to two-year lows on Monday (September 11) after the news was revealed.

Airlines around the world are now assessing their options.

Analysts say Spirit, JetBlue and Hawaiian face the biggest problems among U.S. carriers.

Germany’s Lufthansa says it’s conducting an evaluation.

Hungary-based budget airline Wizz says its capacity could be cut by 10% over the problem.

And on Tuesday (September 12) Air New Zealand said it would face a significant impact.

RTX says its profits will take a hit of up $3.5 billion over the issue, which won’t be fully resolved until 2026.