RIO DE JANEIRO, June 7 (Reuters) - Italy's ITA Airways will

decide within the next eight weeks whether to sue aerospace

supplier RTX's Pratt & Whitney due to engine problems that have

grounded almost 20% of its fleet of 80 aircraft, the carrier's

CEO told Reuters on Sunday.

Hundreds of A320neo planes, the latest version of the Airbus

single-aisle jets, have been grounded globally.

This has been partly due to long waiting times for engine

inspections and repairs, and after a manufacturing problem at

Pratt & Whitney put pressure on the output of the GTF engines in

the Airbus planes.

"It's imminent," Joerg Eberhart, CEO of ITA Airways said on

the sidelines of a global gathering of top airline executives in

Rio de Janeiro. "We will have to decide within the next six to

eight weeks."

RTX did not immediately reply to a request for comment.