Flight Friday: Narrowbody Engines Monthly Cycles Up Despite Fuel Cost

As AeroEngines Europe approaches and engines remain a hot topic within the industry, Flight Friday looks at the four main narrowbody powerplants and their aircraft average monthly flight cycles.

Back in the northern hemisphere summer months of 2023, all narrowbody aircraft were averaging over 115 cycles per month, as operators made sure they had as many aircraft as possible available to take the public on their summer vacations. The inverse winter months see that average utilization drop to around 100 cycles per month, as some aircraft are taken out for maintenance, and operators trim their winter schedules to coincide with the slight reduction in travel demand.

In recent years, the legacy IAE V2500 and the CFM International CFM56 have had, on average, the highest number of monthly cycles. With those engines beginning to enter their twilight years—albeit extended due to the inability to get brand new aircraft delivered, combined with an increase in the cost of fuel—the average monthly cycles for July 2026 were 115 and 117 respectively.

The CFM International Leap engine has led the way throughout 2026 for monthly average cycles. With over 120 average cycles in July 2026, operators are really leaning towards using their latest generation narrowbodies to do as much flying as possible to combat the increase in fuel prices.

The Pratt & Whitney PW1000G (GTF) has made huge progress during 2026. The uptick of average cycles from summer 2025 to summer 2026 is approximately 10%. This is a result of Pratt beginning to resolve the backlog of GTFs in the engine shop, getting more aircraft in the air and doing more flights. Again, this latest generation engine is being used to help offset the increase in fuel costs due to the conflict in the Middle East.