Last month,
GE Aerospace announced that it had delivered its 3,000th GE90 production engine. Designed specifically for the Boeing 777 family, the GE90 engine family has achieved nearly 130 million fight hours and 18 million cycles since entering into service in 1995. Currently, 29 GE90 engines have accumulated more than 100,000 flying hours, with the fleet leaders approaching 107,000 hours and 19,000 cycles.
Nate Hoening, GE Aerospace’s GE90 programme manager, said: “Not many would have believed that we would come close to this 3,000-engine milestone during the early years of the GE90 program. We owe a tremendous debt of gratitude to Boeing, our GE90 customers around the world, and all the workers who have made this marvel of an engine one of aviation’s great success stories.”
The engine’s architecture and mechanical design have influenced every GE and CFM turbofan over the last two decades, from the popular GEnx and record-selling CFM LEAP engine to the Passport for corporate jets and the next generation GE9X engine for the Boeing 777X family.
The GE90 included many firsts for a commercial jet engine including: the first commercial engine to enter service with carbon-fibre composite fan blades; the first commercial engine certified at over 100,000 pounds of thrust; the first engine certified for ETOPS (extended-range twin-engine operation performance standards); the first commercial engine certified with an additive part (T25 sensor casing); and the first commercial engine to enter service with a dual annual combustor system.
Furthermore, the GE90 engine has been among the most reliable in the industry with a ‘despatch reliability rate’ of 99.98%; and like all GE Aerospace engines, the GE90 can operate on approved sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) blends.