General Electric maintains a slight edge in the 787 engine battle after Qantas cancelled an order for 787-9s on 23 August, but its lead over the Rolls-Royce alternative is razor thin with nearly 40% of customers still undecided.
Qantas had selected the GEnx-1B70 in 2005 to power its now-foregone 787-9s, helping GE open a significant lead over the R-R Trent 1000.
GE's lead within the 787-9 backlog before the Qantas cancellation stood at 131 to 93, with airlines still undecided on orders for 123 aircraft.
The gap between GE and R-R has now shrunk to a difference of orders of three aircraft. GE's orderbook now stands at engines for 96 aircraft, or 30.8% of the new total, versus 93 aircraft for R-R, or 29.8%. Undecided airlines make up the remaining 39.4% of the 787-9 orderbook.
Source: Air Transport Intelligence news
