MUMBAI, India -- In a special ceremony here today, Jet Airways and CFM International celebrated the achievement of two million flight hours by the airlines fleet of CFM56-3 and CFM56-7B engines.
CFM56 engines are produced by CFM International (CFM), a 50/50 joint company between Snecma (SAFRAN Group) and General Electric Company.
Jet Airways began operation in May 1993 with four CFM56-3-powered Boeing 737s. Since then, it has carried nearly 77 million passengers and, today, is one of the fastest growing airlines in the world and the largest private domestic carrier in India. Today, Jet Airway's CFM56-powered fleet includes at total of 50 CFM56-3-powered Classic Boeing 737-400s and CFM56-7B-powered Boeing Next-Generation 737-700/-800/-900 aircraft.
"Jet Airways is an impressive airline," said Eric Bachelet, president and CEO of CFM International. "They have done great things in a relatively short amount of time and we believe that this is only the beginning. Jet Airways has experienced unprecedented growth over the last few years, and we are honored that they have chosen CFM to be such an important part of their operations and we extend our warmest congratulations to everyone at Jet Airways on a job extremely well done."
Jet Airways operates more 350 flights daily to more than 50 destinations across India and around the world. The airline operates one of the most modern fleets in the industry today with an average aircraft age of 4.82 years. The airline attributes its success to a strong emphasis on on-time performance. The fleet has done extremely well in service, with the CFM56-3 maintaining a 99.99 percent departure reliability rate, while the CFM56-7 fleet maintains a rate of 99.96 percent.