Farnborough Airshow Special
Delta Deal
Delta has been using engines built by CFM International, a 50-50 joint company between GE and Safran Aircraft Engines, for four decades. This week at the Farnborough Airshow in England, the Atlanta-based airline ordered 200 CFM LEAP-1B engines to power its new fleet of Boeing 737-10 aircraft. The order includes options for 60 additional engines. Compared with previous-generation engines, the LEAP is providing 15% to 20% better fuel consumption, lower CO2 emissions, and a quieter ride. Find out more here.
EasyJet also ordered LEAP engines for its new planes. Find out more here.
Hip, Hip, Hybrid
Electric cars have become common, but building a commercial electric plane is a different story. “Electric motors behave very differently at altitudes above 10,000 feet,” says Mohamed Ali, vice president for engineering at GE Aerospace. But Ali had some good news for the industry at the Farnborough Airshow. GE Aviation and NASA have become the first to successfully test a megawatt-class, multi-kilovolt hybrid electric system in conditions simulating altitudes up to 45,000 feet. (One megawatt could supply the equivalent of more than 600 U.S. houses.) The technology GE is advancing “will help make hybrid electric flight a reality for everyday commercial air travel, and it should have a real and necessary impact on the carbon emissions associated with flying,” Ali says. GE Reports has the story here.
RISE Gains Altitude
There was other good news at Farnborough involving the future of aviation. Airbus said it would join CFM International’s RISE Program. RISE, which stands for Revolutionary Innovation for Sustainable Engines, is a technology development initiative seeking to mature and demonstrate advanced technology that would serve as the foundation for the next-generation CFM engine that will use 20% less fuel and create 20% fewer emissions than the most efficient jet engine in use today and could enter service by the mid-2030s. In the second half of this decade, Airbus will partner with CFM to carry out a flight test demonstrator program on an Airbus A380 to validate the open-fan engine architecture. GE Reports has the story here.
Bonus: What does the RISE engine concept look like? GE Aviation engineer Alex Hill made a 3D-printed model that’s become so popular, it made it all the way to Farnborough. Check it out here.
What’s In A Name
Last fall, GE announced plans to become three independent and publicly traded businesses focusing on healthcare, energy, and aviation. This week the company unveiled their names. Channeling its 130 years of innovation, all three — each a leader in its industry — will retain the familiar GE name and the company’s famous Monogram logo, which dates to Thomas Edison. But their new names also reflect a new beginning. GE’s healthcare business will become GE HealthCare, and GE’s existing portfolio of energy businesses, including Renewable Energy, Power, Digital, and Energy Financial Services, will sit together under the brand name GE Vernova. GE Aerospace will be the name of GE’s aviation business. Read more here.
— Quote Of The Day —
“We are proud to continue our long-standing relationship with CFM with the addition of these aircraft equipped with engines that offer advantages in terms of fuel efficiency, reliability, and daily utilization.”
— Mahendra Nair, SVP for fleet and tech-ops supply chain, Delta Air Lines
Quote: GE Reports. Images: Delta Air Lines, GE Aviation, Airbus, GE.