A CFM56-3B2 engine in service with Germania Flug has logged 30,000 hours and more than 11,000 cycles without a single removal, setting a new world's record for engine time on wing. The previous record of 28,888 flight hours was set in 1996 by GE's CF6 engine.
CFM56-3 engines are produced by CFM International (CFM), a 50/50 joint company of Snecma (Safran Group) of France and General Electric of the United States.
The engine, S/N 723267, was part of the original installation on a new Boeing 737-300 Germania received in October 1988. Since that time, the engine has undergone routine inspections but has remained trouble-free. Germania has no immediate plans to remove the engine; it is still demonstrating an acceptable exhaust gas temperature margin, and inspections show only normal wear and tear. CFM56-3 engines currently average about 14,000 hours on wing before an initial shop visit.
"We extend our heartfelt congratulations to Germania on such a marvelous achievement," said Grard Laviec, president and CEO of CFM. "While we are very proud of the fact that we build the most reliable engines in the industry, we are fully aware that it is our customers that keep them in the air. And as a testament to this airline's outstanding maintenance team, Germania may actually be in a position to break its own record. There are two additional CFM56-3 engines in its fleet that have logged more than 20,000 hours, and a third engine that has logged more than 18,000 without a single shop visit."
Germania is a charter and regional carrier based in Berlin, Germany. The airline currently operates a fleet of 14 Boeing 737-300 aircraft powered by the CFM56-3 on routes throughout Europe and the Mediterranean. Germania (along with Maersk Air) will become the first European operator of the new CFM56-7-powered Boeing 737-700 when it takes delivery of the first of 12 new aircraft later this year.