⚠ Airlines That Cannot PayLow threat

RTX (RTX) — threat to the moat

Pratt & Whitney has written off maintenance customers three times since 2023, and RTX has about $13.1 billion of commitments to help airlines buy its products.

An aftermarket built on long contracts carries credit risk. Pratt & Whitney has taken charges for customers that failed: about $0.2 billion for a customer insolvency in the second quarter of 2023, $0.2 billion for customer bankruptcies in the fourth quarter of 2024 and about $0.1 billion for a customer bankruptcy in the second quarter of 202512.

Pratt & Whitney charges for failed customers ($bn)0.2Q2 20230.2Q4 2024about 0.1Q2 2025RTX Form 10-K FY2025; Q2 2026 earnings release
Small charges, repeated.

Those sums are small against $14,449 million of 2025 services revenue3. The exposure behind them is larger. RTX has commercial aerospace financing and other commitments of "approximately $13.1 billion, on a gross basis" before the partners' share4, money it has agreed to provide or guarantee to help customers buy aircraft and engines.

Airlines are a cyclical and thinly capitalised customer base. The same discounts and financing that win an engine position leave RTX exposed when a customer fails, and the powder-metal groundings put extra strain on exactly the operators that fly the GTF.

The fleet's growth comes partly from low-cost carriers. AirAsia's order for 150 A220s in 20265 adds a new GTF operator; it is good for volume, and every maintenance contract that follows is only as sound as the airline that signs it.

The quarterly reconciliation of adjusted earnings is where this shows. A year with no customer-bankruptcy charge is the healthy case; a charge above $0.3 billion, or a rise in the $13.1 billion of commitments while airline profits fall, would mean the aftermarket is being bought with credit.

References
  1. ReportedPratt & Whitney has taken charges for customers that failed: about $0.2 billion for a customer insolvency in the second quarter of 2023, $0.2 billion for customer bankruptcies in the fourth quarter of 2024 and about $0.1 billion for a customer bankruptcy in the second quarter of 2025.
    RTX Form 10-K for fiscal 2025 - consolidated financial statements and notes: income statement, cash flow, dividends and repurchases, long-term debt of $37,700 million, goodwill by segment, pension income, the 2024 resolution of certain legal matters, the Raytheon contract termination and the accelerated share repurchase. — FY2023-FY2025 · publ. 6 February 2026 · source ↗
  2. ReportedPratt & Whitney has taken charges for customers that failed: about $0.2 billion for a customer insolvency in the second quarter of 2023, $0.2 billion for customer bankruptcies in the fourth quarter of 2024 and about $0.1 billion for a customer bankruptcy in the second quarter of 2025.
    RTX second-quarter 2026 earnings release, Form 8-K exhibit 99 - sales of $24.7 billion, segment results, cash flow, balance sheet and raised 2026 outlook. — Q2 2026 · publ. 23 July 2026 · source ↗
  3. ReportedThose sums are small against $14,449 million of 2025 services revenue.
    RTX Form 10-K for fiscal 2025 - Item 7 segment review and Note 20: net sales and operating profit by segment for 2023-2025, organic sales drivers (commercial aftermarket, OEM, military), sales by customer type, products and services, segment assets, capital expenditure and research and development - totals across segments: segment sales and profit, eliminations, acquisition accounting and FAS/CAS adjustments. — FY2023-FY2025 · publ. 6 February 2026 · source ↗
  4. ReportedRTX has commercial aerospace financing and other commitments of "approximately $13.1 billion, on a gross basis" before the partners' share, money it has agreed to provide or guarantee to help customers buy aircraft and engines.
    RTX Form 10-K for fiscal 2025 - consolidated financial statements and notes: income statement, cash flow, dividends and repurchases, long-term debt of $37,700 million, goodwill by segment, pension income, the 2024 resolution of certain legal matters, the Raytheon contract termination and the accelerated share repurchase. — FY2023-FY2025 · publ. 6 February 2026 · source ↗
  5. ReportedAirAsia's order for 150 A220s in 2026 adds a new GTF operator; it is good for volume, and every maintenance contract that follows is only as sound as the airline that signs it.
    RTX second-quarter 2026 earnings call transcript (The Motley Fool) - Raytheon bookings and book-to-bill, GTF aircraft-on-ground and MRO output, munitions output, framework agreements, the defence budget request, GTF Advantage, Collins margin plans and segment outlook - commercial: GTF fleet, maintenance output, aftermarket, orders, Collins and the outlook. — Q2 2026 · publ. 24 July 2026 · source ↗
Sources
Generated September 28, 2026