Airbus CEO upbeat on new engine technology, but says jury still out
Adds GE Aerospace comment, paragraphs 7-8
Airbus CEO says CFM deliveries still running late
GE Aerospace CEO Larry Culp highlights progress in addressing supply chain issues
Boeing seen skeptical about near-term viability of CFM's open-rotor technology
By Tim Hepher, David Shepardson
WASHINGTON, Sept 10 (Reuters) -The head of European planemaker Airbus AIR.PA said novel open-rotor technology being tested by engine maker CFM International offers promising efficiencies and reductions in emissions but the "jury is out" on whether it will be commercially viable.
Chief Executive Guillaume Faury also told reporters on the sidelines of the Global Aerospace Summit, hosted by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, that deliveries of the current generation of LEAP engines built by CFM International continue to be late.
"They are late in their deliveries," he said.
CFM had no immediate comment.
In July, the world's largest planemaker issued a profit warning and lowered its target for airplane deliveries by 30 units to 770 aircraft, blaming supply-chain problems with items including engines and cabin interiors and notably LEAP delays.
Co-owned by GE Aerospace GE.N and France's Safran SAF.PA, CFM is the world's largest jet engine maker by volume of engines sold. Its LEAP engines power all Boeing 737 MAX jets and about half of the rival A320neos built by Airbus, where they compete for airline contracts with Pratt & Whitney RTX.N.
GE Aerospace CEO Larry Culp said the company was working closely with its top 15 suppliers where most shortages are located.
"We've made tremendous progress over the last six months going into these facilities, helping them identify and break constraints," he told the conference.
CFM, which this month celebrates its 50th anniversary, is testing a collection of technologies that could result in an open rotor engine whose main fan would be larger and more visible in order to grab more air and burn 20% less fuel.
Industry sources say Boeing is less enthusiastic about the near-term viability of aspects of the technologies in CFM's so-called RISE demonstrator, and Aviation Week recently reported that Boeing was leaning towards a more traditional engine shape.
"We're still in the process of testing the open-rotor and validating noise, vibration, performance ... We have not come to the conclusion that the open-rotor will make it. We hope it's going to be the case, because it has the potential to be by far more fuel-efficient," Faury said.
Speaking at the conference earlier, Faury reiterated Airbus aimed to launch development of a new jet by end-decade.
Pratt & Whitney and Britain's Rolls-Royce RR.L are working on designs based on geared technology with traditional engine housings or nacelles. The split raises the prospect that Airbus would be able to offer only one supplier rather than two as now.
Faury said he hoped other engine makers would join CFM in looking at open-rotor designs to provide more competition.
He did not rule out going with just one supplier.
"We will need from (CFM) a contract, an offer that works on the long term. If this is the case, we will be happy to go with them. If it's not the case, we might be back to more traditional technologies, where two manufacturers compete with each other. I would say the jury's out on how this is going to play out."
Analysts say choices about engine architecture in coming years will shape air transport for decades to come as Airbus and Boeing renew their best-selling medium-haul products, while China mounts a growing challenge to their jet market duopoly.
Reporting by Tim Hepher in Paris and David Shepardson in Washington, Editing by Franklin Paul, Nick Zieminski and Matthew Lewis
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Penafian: Entiti XM Group menyediakan perkhidmatan pelaksanaan sahaja dan akses ke Kemudahan Dagangan Atas Talian, yang membolehkan sesorang melihat dan/atau menggunakan kandungan yang ada di dalam atau melalui laman web, tidak bertujuan untuk mengubah atau memperluas, juga tidak mengubah atau mengembangkannya. Akses dan penggunaan tersebut tertakluk kepada: (i) Terma dan Syarat; (ii) Amaran Risiko; dan Penafian Penuh. Oleh itu, kandungan sedemikian disediakan tidak lebih dari sekadar maklumat umum. Terutamanya, perlu diketahui bahawa kandungan Kemudahan Dagangan Atas Talian bukan permintaan, atau tawaran untuk melakukan transaksi dalam pasaran kewangan. Berdagang dalam mana-mana pasaran kewangan melibatkan tahap risiko yang besar terhadap modal anda.
Semua bahan yang diterbitkan di Kemudahan Dagangan Atas Talian kami bertujuan hanya untuk tujuan pendidikan/maklumat dan tidak mengandungi – dan tidak boleh dianggap mengandungi nasihat kewangan, cukai pelaburan atau dagangan dan cadangan, atau rekod harga dagangan kami, atau tawaran, atau permintaan untuk suatu transaksi dalam sebarang instrumen kewangan atau promosi kewangan yang tidak diminta kepada anda.
Sebarang kandungan pihak ketiga serta kandungan yang disediakan oleh XM, seperti pendapat, berita, penyelidikan, analisis, harga, maklumat lain atau pautan ke laman web pihak ketiga yang terdapat dalam laman web ini disediakan berdasarkan "seadanya" sebagai ulasan pasaran umum dan bukanlah nasihat pelaburan. Sesuai dengan apa-apa kandungan yang ditafsir sebagai penyelidikan pelaburan, anda mestilah ambil perhatian dan menerima bahawa kandungan tersebut tidak bertujuan dan tidak sediakan berdasarkan keperluan undang-undang yang direka untuk mempromosikan penyelidikan pelaburan bebas dan oleh itu, ia dianggap sebagai komunikasi pemasaran di bawah peraturan dan undang-undang yang berkaitan. SIla pastikan bahawa anda telah membaca dan memahami Notifikasi mengenai Penyelidikan Pelaburan Bukan Bebas dan Amaran Risiko mengenai maklumat di atas yang boleh diakses di sini.
