GE Aerospace is confident that it will shortly secure approval for a new high-pressure turbine (HPT) blade with better durability for the Leap-1A powerplant it produces as part of the CFM International joint venture.
Detailing its progress with the updated part during a 22 October third-quarter results call, GE chief executive Larry Culp said he expects certification for the enhanced HPT blade “in the coming weeks”. Leap-1A engines are an option on Airbus A320neo-family jets.
In addition to offering better durability than the part it replaces – notably in hot and sandy conditions – the new blade is easier to produce, helping to increase overall Leap output.
Combined with other durability improvements the manufacturer is rolling out “which are performing well in the field”, the new HPT blade will see time-on-wing for the Leap rise by two-thirds, bringing it in line with the older-generation CFM56.
Culp says the new blade is already in production, allowing the updated part to be installed in new engines further down the line once approval is received.
However, the majority of Leap engines to be delivered in the fourth quarter “will be on the back of the existing design”.
While the new blade is “easier to make” and “will help” raise overall output, he cautions that it is “not the unlock” to resolve slower than hoped Leap production.
Across the first nine months of the year, CFM – a joint venture with Safran Aircraft Engines – shipped 1,029 Leap powerplants, down 12% on the 1,174 it handed over in the same period of 2023.
“If there was a silver bullet we would have used it some time ago,” he says.
Supply chain constraints remain a major pacing factor for output of all its engines, notes Culp, although he maintains the company’s Flight Deck supplier initiative is having a positive impact on performance.
That has seen around 550 GE engineers seconded to “critical suppliers” to “really enable us to have more flow into our facilities”, says Culp.
As a result, Culp expects quarterly Leap output to grow in the final three months of the year – assuming deliveries of the -1B variant to Boeing resume – although total annual output will be around 10% lower than 2023, when CFM shipped 1,570 units.
Production improvements will be carried over into 2025, Culp insists, helping to meet the rate ramp-up demands of both Airbus and Boeing.
Culp is, meanwhile, unconcerned by Boeing’s recent announcement that it is delaying service entry of the GE9X-powered 777-9 until 2026 – a year later than previously planned.
Production of GE9X engines is ongoing, he says, adding: “We’ll be ramping deliveries of that engine next year, maybe at a slower rate than was anticipated.”
