Guy Norris/LOSANGELES
ONE OF THE LARGEST commercial-aircraft orders ever placed is expected to be announced within the next few weeks by GE Capital Services (GECAS), the leasing arm of US engineering conglomerate General Electric.
The deal is widely expected to include orders and options for as many as 180 aircraft worth about $8 billion - eclipsing major orders gained by rivals such as International Lease Finance earlier in the decade.
Although GECAS and Boeing decline to comment on speculation over the deal, firm orders for 60 new-generation 737s and options on a further 40 are likely to be announced - possibly as early as the end of the month. A second firm order for around 40 Airbus narrow-body twinjets, is expected to be announced shortly after.
Although the initial firm orders primarily cover narrow-body aircraft, the later orders and options are expected to include larger wide-body types such as the Boeing 777-200IGW and -300, as well as possibly the Airbus A330 and A340. Power plants will remain a matter of customer choice, although, in the case of the 737, the GE-Snecma CFM56 is the only engine available.
GECAS declines to comment officially, but leasing sources say that ".the company is making a major play in the industry. It's counting on airlines doing a lot more leasing than ever before in the near and mid-term." Deliveries are expected to begin as early as 1997 and could run through to 2002 and beyond.
Orders for 737s, will make up the largest proportion of the deal, which is thought originally to have been set in motion with the prospect, of a fleet purchase of the 737-600/-700/-800 family alone.
Should the firm orders be confirmed, sales of the new-generation aircraft will exceed 280, and total 737 orders will exceed 3,300. The announced backlog of new- and old-generation 737s together will also jump, to around 550, one of the largest ever amassed.
Source: Flight International
