EVENDALE, OHIO October 24, 2005 Every three seconds of every day with one of more 430 operators around the globe, an airplane powered by industry-leading CFM56 engines is taking off. There are approximately 15,300 CFM56 engines in service powering more than 6,050 aircraft; this fleet has logged more than 300 million flight hours and 175 million flight cycles as the most reliable engines in the air.
CFM56 engines are produced by CFM International, a 50/50 joint company between Snecma (Safran Group) and General Electric Company and the world's leading manufacturer of jet engines for commercial and military transport aircraft.
Although it took more than 23 years for CFM to achieve 300 million hours, the fleet is currently logging one million flight hours every 10 days and should reach 400 million hours by early 2008.
The CFM56 product line includes six engine models spanning the thrust range from 18,500 to 34,000 pounds (82 to 151 kN) thrust. Commercial applications include the CFM56-5-powered Airbus A318, A319, A320, and A321 single-aisle aircraft and the A319 Corporate Jet and the long-range, four-engine A340-200 and -300 powered by CFM56-5C engines; the Boeing Classic 737-300/-400/-500 family, powered by CFM56-3 engines and the Next-Generation 737-600/-700/-800/-900 and Boeing Business Jet; all powered by the CFM56-7B engine. CFM56 engines also power several military applications, including the Boeing 737 Airborne Early Warning & Control aircraft, the U.S. Navy C-40 transport, and the Multi-mission Maritime Aircraft (MMA), as well as re-engined KC-135R and C-135FR tanker, RC135 surveillance aircraft, E-3 Airborne Warning and Control System surveillance aircraft, and the E-6 submarine communications aircraft.
The first CFM56-powered aircraft to enter service was a Boeing DC-8 Super 70 series aircraft re-engined with the CFM56-2.