GE Aviation will "voluntarily" apply to its own commercial engine programmes the new "conduct" principles – relating to third-party maintenance – that its joint venture with Safran, CFM International, has agreed with IATA.
That agreement includes a set of policies aimed at opening the MRO market for CFM56 and Leap engines to third-party support specialists that use non-CFM spare parts and repairs.
When IATA disclosed the deal on 31 July, the airline association said that GE had agreed to apply the policies to "other commercial aircraft engines that it produces in its own right".
GE tells FlightGlobal it is "not a party to the agreement between IATA and CFM" but adds that it is "voluntarily applying the conduct policies to its commercial engines", specifying the GE90, GEnx, CF34 and CF6 models.
The US manufacturer says it "has always been a strong supporter of an open MRO network and the advantages it brings our customers".
As part of the CFM-IATA agreement, the airline association withdrew a formal complaint it had filed with the European Commission in 2016.
The Commission had started a tentative inquiry into potentially anti-competitive terms in engine and component maintenance contracts, focusing on the CFM56 and Rolls-Royce's Trent XWB.
Source: FlightGlobal.com
