This year is a significant one for the engine manufacturers, as the two new-generation powerplants make their service debut. Pratt & Whitney kicked things off in January when its PW1000G geared turbofan entered service on the A320neo. It will be swiftly followed on the Airbus twinjet by the all-new rival offering from CFM International, the Leap-1A.
Meanwhile in Seattle, the Leap is key to the enhancements now in flight test at Boeing on its 737 Max and is the initial powerplant option on Comac’s C919, which should fly this year. Work is even more hectic for P&W. It is preparing the PW1500G for service-entry on the Bombardier CSeries this summer, while testing is under way on the PW1200G-powered Mitsubishi MRJ and about to start on the similarly-equipped Embraer E-Jet E2.
The GTF is also the lead powerplant on Irkut’s MC-21, which will roll out in mid-2016. Here, the latest market trends are examined using Flightglobal’s Fleets Analyzer database.
Source: Flight International
