CFM International (CFMI) is stepping up production of CFM56 engines in response to record orders placed during 1996 for 1,280 powerplants valued at $5.5 billion.
CFMI president Gerard Laviec says that the company had planned for only "about 700 orders" for the year. As a result of the sudden leap in demand, most of it because of the rapid sales of the next-generation Boeing 737, production is to be increased to 770 in 1997 compared with 443 in 1996.
The rate will continue to rise to 930 in 1998, largely in line with the increase of production rates for the Boeing narrowbody family, which is due to reach 21 a month during that year.
Laviec says that the two CFMI partner companies, General Electric and Snecma, should be able to cope with the rise, pointing out that production reached 891 during the last peak in 1991. "The production capability in terms of the tooling is already there," he says.
The non-stop war with International Aero Engines also continues, with CFMI claiming that it was 63% of the Airbus single-aisle orders in 1996, as against 59% in 1995. "We will do our best to stay in this range, but we are not going to buy market share," says Laviec.
"We are close to the performance of the V2500,and, although we are some 1-2% below in terms of fuel consumption, we think we are much better in terms of cost of operation because of lower maintenance," he adds.
CFMI, like Boeing, has been surprised by the surge in orders for the current-generation aircraft, having originally planned to decrease CFM56-3 production rates. Another huge order, worth more than $2 billion, was also received from GE Capital Aviation Services for a range of CFM56 engines to power almost 300 737s, Airbus A319/320/321s and A340s.
Source: Flight International
