Pratt & Whitney is hoping to spur interest in its geared turbofan PurePower engine from Airbus, Boeing and Irkut, proposing that it could power the manufacturers’ future single aisle programmes and beyond.
Earlier this month Pratt & Whitney launched its geared turbofan engine family, branding its commercial aviation application as the PurePower PW1000G.
The new engine will enter service in 2013 as the sole powerplant option on Bombardier’s CSeries and the Mitsubishi Regional Jet (MRJ).
Pratt & Whitney Commercial Engines marketing VP Mary Ellen Jones says: “Our focus for now is ensuring we do everything right for the CSeries and the MRJ.”
Looking forward Jones sees a potential application for the PurePower engine on Irkut’s next-generation narrowbody airliner, the two-member MS-21 family.
“[Irkut is] talking to a number of large companies. We certainly have talked to them about our engine,” she says.
“I think we need at look at [Irkut’s planned request for proposals] very seriously,” she says. “I think there is certainly potential. We would have to work more closely with them to understand their requirements, but anything in that thrust class we can add value.”
There is also scope for future GTF applications on Airbus’ and Boeing’s future narrowbody families and, further down the line, on the airframers’ future widebody programmes.
Later this year the PurePower PW1000G, which completed its first flight on 11 July, will undergo 75 hours of flight tests on an Airbus A340. Jones is optimistic that this demonstration could pave the way for future narrowbody business from the European airframer.
She adds Pratt & Whitney will “most likely” pursue any future narrowbody programme through its International Aero Engines (IAE) consortium, which also includes Rolls-Royce, the Japanese Aero Engines Corporation and MTU Aero Engines.
“Through IAE would be our preference although it has not been determined,” she says.
Equally, it may pursue future widebody work through either IAE or its joint venture with General Electric (GE), Engine Alliance. “It would really depend on where the market is and what our partnership strategy is at that point,” says Jones.
In the nearer term, Pratt & Whitney would like to propose a non-GTF engine option on the A350 XWB through Engine Alliance, but it is waiting on negotiations between GE and Airbus.
Jones says: “GE is yet to determine what their strategy will be. It’s between Airbus and GE and there’s not an opportunity for us to proceed any further.”
Source: flightglobal.com's sister premium news site Air Transport Intelligence news
Source: Flight International
