LONDON: CFM International, which provides engines to Boeing Co and Airbus SE for their single-aisle airliners, aims to deliver 15% more units this year to support an increase in aircraft production, with jet power plants turning into a major choke-point for output.
“We are aligned with the airframer demands in terms of the ramp ups that they have laid out, and I think we feel good about the trajectory,” Gael Meheust, the chief executive officer of CFM, said at a media briefing in London ahead of this year’s Farnborough Air Show.
CFM, a joint venture between General Electric Co and Safran SA of France, is also working on improving the durability of its engines, especially in hot and dusty environments, it said.
The upgraded kit has now been approved for the Boeing 737 Max aircraft, which only uses CFM engines, and is already on the Airbus A320, which comes with a choice of two propulsion types.
Meheust said the commercial aviation industry is in the middle of what he called the “most unprecedented ramp-up” in its history, as airline customers seek to upgrade their fleets and add more fuel-efficient models to their mix. — Bloomberg
