Aircraft Engines and Engine Parts - Industry Leaders

Industry Leaders

As manufacturer of the first jet engine, General Electric still held the title as the world's leading manufacturer of military and commercial aircraft jet engines in the early 2000s. The company also produced, as well as serviced, small jet engines for airlines, charter and leasing companies, and the military. GE Aircraft Engines reported $11.1 billion in revenue for 2002. GE's CF6-80C2 engine was used to power Air Force One, the 747 airplane used by the U.S. president. In addition to developing its GE90-115B engine, which was capable of generating an incredible 115,000 pounds of thrust, by 2003 GE was in partnership with Rolls-Royce to create an engine for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.

Pratt & Whitney, a division of United Technologies, supplied engines to more than 50 percent of the world's commercial airliners in the late 19990s and early 2000s. Pratt & Whitney partnered with General Electric in the late 1990s to create The GE-P&W Engine Alliance. This program was designed to upgrade the performance of the GP7000 series of engines for Airbus A3XX and the Boeing Growth 747. By 2003, an increasing number of aircraft with Pratt & Whitney engines were being retired, and the company was losing market share to its competitors. In 2002, the company recorded revenues of $7.6 billion.