- To date in 2000, CFM International has logged firm orders for a total of 948 engines at a value of approximately $4.7 billion, putting the company on track for another record year. In 1999, CFM had the fourth best year in its history, booking orders for 997 engines.
CFM International, a 50/50 joint company between Snecma Moteurs (Safran Group) of France and General Electric of the United States, is the world's leading supplier of commercial aircraft engines.
Earlier this month, Royal Air Maroc announced its intention to purchase 20 CFM56-7-powered Boeing Next-Generation 737 aircraft. The engine order is valued at about $200 million. The Casablanca-based airline currently operates 22 Classic and Next-Generation 737s powered by the CFM56-3 and CFM56-7, respectively.
In October, Air Canada selected the CFM56-5 to power 28 new A320-family aircraft as part of the first phase of its ongoing fleet expansion and renewal program. The airline will purchase 12 A321 and two A319 aircraft, in addition to leasing six A319s and three A320s from International Lease Finance Corporation (ILFC) and five A319s from GE Capital Aviation Services (GECAS).
Air Canada is one of CFM's largest customers for Airbus applications. The new A319/A320/A321 aircraft, which are scheduled to begin delivery in August 2001, will augment Air Canada's current fleet of more than 60 CFM56-5-powered A319/A320 aircraft. Air Canada was the first North American operator of the CFM56-5C-powered Airbus A340 and currently has 12 of the long-range, four engine aircraft in service.
The CFM56-5 has been selected to power nearly 60 percent of the A320 family aircraft ordered to date. These engines average nearly 17,000 hours on wing, the equivalent of about five years, before an initial shop visit, and more than 10,000 hours after overhaul. No other engine in this thrust class can match this record. Recently, a CFM56-5A3 engine installed on an A320 operated by Premiair, completed more than 30,000 hours on wing without a shop visit. Aside from providing record-breaking time on wing, the CFM56-5 also has the advantage in global cost of ownership, which is determined by such factors as shop visit rate, life-limited parts, in-flight shutdown rate, delays and cancellations, and fuel burn.