With Aviation Week’s Engine Leasing, Trading and Finance Europe event running June 5-6 in London, this week’s Flight Friday looks at how important “previous generation” engine technology is for the current aviation industry.
With the well reported durability issues with Pratt & Whitney’s GTF (PW1000G) engine, and new aircraft delivery rates still suppressed due to several industry-wide issues and “quality escapes,” operators are looking to extend the usage of previous generation engine-powered aircraft to help fill the shortfall.
The CFM56-7B, which powers the Boeing 737NG series, is both historically and currently the most utilized aircraft, with the highest aggregated flight hours. However, April 2024 utilization is “only” at 85% of April 2019 flight hours. The reason for this is predominantly due to a lower in-service fleet, as some of the older aircraft have been removed from service. April 2019 had over 6,400 “NG’s” in service, which has dropped to a little over 5,900 by April 2024. This is an 8% drop in in-service fleet, but utilization is 15% lower. Part of the reason is that some NG’s have become freighters which have a lower utilization profile, but also because some of these engines require overhauls and currently engine shop availability is at a premium.
The CFM56-5B and V2500, which power the Airbus A320 “ceo” family, are operating at 85% and 80% of April 2019 levels respectively. Like the 737NGs, the A320ceo family in-service fleet has dropped—by almost 12%—which is reflected in the falling utilization levels. The CFM56-5B and V2500 also are at the point of requiring overhauls in the near future, which shift the utilization profile slightly.
By contrast, the “Latest Generation” engines—GTF and LEAP—do not yet have a combined utilization that surpasses the CFM56-7B levels, but they are coming close. With continued aircraft deliveries, and GTF engines that return to service after they have completed their durability “tech updates,” the aggregated levels will continue to grow above the CFM56-7B in the near future.
This data was put together using Aviation Week’s Tracked Aircraft Utilization tool.
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