GE Aerospace and CFM International Continue to Expand MRO Capacity

When the CFM LEAP engine entered service in 2016, its maker, CFM International, a 50-50 joint company between GE Aerospace and Safran Aircraft Engines, had a hunch it might be popular. But maybe not this popular. 

Case in point: Over the past few years, airlines that have selected Airbus A320neo and A321neo aircraft have opted for CFM LEAP engines about 70% of the time. And that’s just a portion of the engine program’s remarkable success. With more than 3,700 LEAP-powered aircraft in service with more than 150 operators around the globe, 60 million flight hours logged, and more than 10,000 engine orders on backlog, the company faces a growing challenge: how to keep all those engines in tip-top shape. Indeed, because of the sheer number in service, shop visits for LEAP engines are expected to increase significantly by the end of this decade.

The story is much the same when it comes to GE Aerospace’s most popular widebody engine, the GEnx. Airlines that have purchased Boeing 787 Dreamliners have selected the GEnx engine close to three out of every four times. 

“We’ve been seeing a strong customer preference for the performance and reliability that CFM LEAP and GEnx engines offer,” says Natalie Stone, head of CFM LEAP Premier MRO programs. “This [has] created a need for more incremental services and maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) capacity.” 

In the past decade, CFM and GE Aerospace have continually added MRO shops around the world — both by expanding the number and footprint of their own facilities and by partnering with other elite MRO providers. Now, with the inauguration of a shop in Poland and a new partnership with MTU Maintenance in Texas, they’re doing it again. 

GE Aerospace announced its most recent increase in MRO capacity two weeks before MRO Americas when it inaugurated XEOS, a 35,000-square-meter (375,000-square-foot) facility near Wrocław, Poland. GE Aerospace operates the facility as a joint venture with Lufthansa Technik. “XEOS features a state-of-the-art test cell, a modern clean-and-inspect line, advanced repair capability, and a training center,” says Stone. “We’ve designed it with all of our latest GE Aerospace technology, using FLIGHT DECK and the best lean practices and principles.”

One of the most respected names in MRO, Lufthansa Technik is also a licensed CFM LEAP Premier MRO provider. This means they compete in an open MRO ecosystem with CFM and third-party shops whose Premier MRO status signifies CFM’s highest level of training and support — and provides access to proprietary overhaul and repair technology. “They’re named Premier MRO providers because they’re the best and most well-respected in the industry,” Stone explains. 

In the open MRO ecosystem, airlines select shops based on overhaul work scope, repair capability, location, engine induction slot availability, turnaround times, and pricing. In this way, Lufthansa Technik won work from LOT Polish Airlines for the Polish flag carrier’s CFM LEAP-1B engines, which it chose to induct at XEOS. At the facility’s inaugural ceremony, members of Lufthansa Technik, LOT Polish Airlines, and the Polish government celebrated the commitments that XEOS represents, both to the aviation industry and to Poland, where GE Aerospace is assembling a skilled aerospace workforce.

Building on this good news, CFM announced its sixth Premier MRO provider at MRO Americas this week: MTU Maintenance Dallas, which will also service GEnx engines through a GE Aerospace branded service agreement (GBSA). Through this new partnership, MTU Maintenance will conduct performance restoration shop visits and industrialize extensive repair capabilities for CFM LEAP-1A and -1B engines, and for GEnx-1B engines — serving operators of Airbus A320neo family, Boeing 737 MAX, and Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft around the world. 

“They were chosen because of their demonstrated capabilities in overhaul and repair,” Stone says of MTU Maintenance. “They’ve got deeper roots than most other MRO shops around the world.” 

It has been a little more than 50 years since GE Aerospace and Safran Aircraft Engines founded the joint company to produce the CFM56 engine, which clocked its one-billionth flight hour in 2019. Now the CFM LEAP engine, which is 15% more fuel-efficient and much quieter than the CFM56 engine, is well on its way to matching, and possibly eclipsing, its predecessor. CFM’s new investments — in MRO facilities, in MRO partners, and in an open MRO ecosystem — are all designed to uphold the company’s proud traditions: driving down cost of ownership, supporting higher residual values, and maintaining industry-leading asset utilization.