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spokeswoman, said. “They were interested inpowering the new aircraft, but neither wanted toassume the costs and risks alone. A JV simplymade good sense, technically and financially.”

The companies received US and Europeanapproval to join forces on a new engine topower four-engined aircraft designed to carry450 or more passengers. The Engine Alliance(EA) was born. The JV was officially announcedat the 1996 Farnborough Air Show. KarlKrapek, former P&W president, described thenew company as a “dream team of aerospace.”

Six months later, Boeing cancelled the 747-500/600X programme due to insufficient mar-ket interest. Reluctant to disband the ‘dream

In the early 1990s GE and P&W, along withBritish manufacturer Rolls-Royce, investedhundreds of millions of dollars to design and

produce mammoth, competing engines topower the 777. When Boeing announced plansto design and produce a modified 747 thatcould fly further and carry more passengers,GE and P&W each hoped to adapt their existing777 engines — the GE90 and PW4000 respec-tively — for the proposed 747-500/600X air-craft. It soon became apparent, however, that amore extensive redesign — and significantadditional investment — would be required.

“Both companies faced the same technicaland financial challenges,” Deb Case, GE

team’, the Engine Alliance focused its attentionon designing an engine for Airbus’ proposedA3XX, which would ultimately become the A380.

After proceeding with an extensive develop-ment programme that included eight groundand flight test engines, the GP7200 receivedits FAR 33 engine certification in December2005. Flight testing began in 2006 and thefirst GP7200-powered A380 entered servicewith Emirates on August 1, 2008.

How the JV works“It takes more than a shared interest to cre-

ate a successful alliance,” Mary Ellen Jones,Engine Alliance president said. “Partners

The Engine Yearbook 2011

In 1996, they were commonly referred to as the Hatfields and McCoys of the jet engine business.The media gleefully watched from the sidelines as two aerospace superpowers — GE Aviationand Pratt and Whitney (P&W) — publicly slugged it out over multi-million dollar contracts topower the F-15 and F-16 fighters, the A330, 777 and other military and commercial aircraft.Spectators couldn’t fathom a friendly conversation between the longstanding rivals, much less asuccessful joint venture (JV). Today the aerospace giants are proving them wrong. The EngineAlliance — a 50/50 joint venture JV between GE Aviation and P&W — has not only proven to besuccessful, the partnership leads the market in engine orders for the A380.

Rivals unite — how theEngine Alliance JV flew

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whose technical skills complement oneanother are really in the best position to suc-ceed,” she added. “GE and Pratt & Whitneyhave very strong jet engine technologies thathave come together beautifully to create a high-performing engine.”

The GP7200 literally combines the bestengine technologies of both companies. Itscore is a derivative of the GE90 hot section,and its fan module and low-pressure sectionsincorporate technologies from P&W’s PW4000engines (see sketch A).

In addition to teaming with each other, GEbrought in Snecma and MTU as partners on theGP7000 high- pressure compressor and tur-bine, respectively, and P&W contracted withMTU and Techspace Aero on the fan moduleand low-pressure turbine section, respectively(see sketch B).

The GP7200 core is manufactured at GE’sDurham, North Carolina facility. That and otherengine modules are shipped to P&W’s enginecentre in Middletown, Connecticut for finalassembly and transport to Airbus headquartersin Toulouse, France.

EA personnel, who are seconded from thetwo member companies, are located at P&W inEast Hartford, Connecticut (EA East), and at GEin Cincinnati, Ohio (EA West). Although mem-ber company campuses are used, the EAoffices are located apart from the rest of P&Wand GE. Team members are entirely EA-focusedand constantly conscious of firewalls that allowonly appropriate sharing of information.Mandatory refresher training helps ensureeveryone remembers the non-disclosure termsof the EA agreement.

As with other JVs, the EA strives to maintainan equitable balance of representation fromthe member companies. The offices of thepresident and CFO are rotated equally betweenmembers of GE and P&W on a three-year plan.At the end of Jones’ term, the role of presidentwill be assumed by a GE executive. At thattime, the CFO’s position will be assumed by aP&W associate. The key functions of engineer-ing, customer support, industrial management,quality, and sales and marketing are equallystaffed at EA East and EA West.

GP7200 customersThe Engine Alliance won its first A380

engine order from Air France in 2001. Sincethen, Air France has increased its original orderfrom 10 aircraft to 12 and EA has garneredorders for an additional 84 aircraft. The JV isnow contracted to power 52 per cent of the186firm A380s (with engine selections) on order.

By the end of 2010, EA expects to have 19GP7200-powered A380s in service: Four withAir France and 15 with Emirates. Doric Asset

Finance (Doric) became the first lessor withGP7200-powered A380s in its portfolio when itpurchased two of the Emirates A380s in a sale-leaseback agreement. Korean Air is scheduledto receive its first A380 in 2011.

In-service performanceThe media is quick to criticise when the

A380 experiences any technical issues, but theaircraft’s reliability during its first 12 months inservice was actually better than that of today’smost-utilised widebody aircraft. The A380’sdispatch reliability rate exceeded 98 per centduring its first year of service. Compared to thefirst year dispatch reliability ratings for the 747-400 (91 per cent) and the 777 (97 per cent),the A380’s reliability has been remarkable.

The GP7200’s performance is equallyimpressive. Since entering service withEmirates in 2008, the GP7200-powered A380fleet has not experienced a single in-flight shut-down or aborted takeoff. The 12-month rollingaverage dispatch reliability rating for the EA-powered fleet typically exceeds 99.9 per cent.

These are numbers, Jones said, that areconsistent with a mature engine. “It’s the resultof continuously testing these engines underextreme conditions to expose potential issuesand resolve them before they can become prob-lems for our customers,” she noted. “It’s alsoa tremendous tribute to the teamwork inherentin this GE-Pratt & Whitney partnership.”

The specific fuel consumption (SFC) of theengine in service is one of its best features.

GE & Pratt & Whitney technologies in the GP7200 Turbofan

Pratt & Whitney GE1 - Swept hollow titanium fan 5 - 9-Stage HP Compressor2 - 5-Stage LP compressor 6 - Low Emission Single Annular

Combustor3 - Accessory Gearbox 7 - 2-Stage HP Turbine

4 - 6-Stage LP Turbine 8 - FADEC III

Prior to service entry, the engine demonstratedit would perform better than its specificationrequired. But analysis of the GP7200-poweredA380s in service show that the engines areperforming better still. Airbus notified EA inMarch, 2010 that it plans to revise the nextGP7200 performance document to reflect a0.5 per cent SFC improvement.

“We’re very pleased with the engine’s per-formance in service,” Jones said, “but moreimportantly, our customers are.”

“We’re delighted to be one of the mainGP7200 operators,” Adel Al Redha, EmiratesEVP engineering and operations, said. “The in-service experience of the engine has proven tobe meeting the performance and reliabilityexpectations set by the manufacturers.” Doric

Engine Alliance customersinclude:

Airline firm orders:

Air France 12Emirates 58ILFC 4Korean Air 10Etihad 10Air Austral 2

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is also pleased with the engines. “What wehave seen up to now with the GP7200 pointsto a very promising time on-wing, even in ademanding operating environment,” MaurickGroeneveld, Doric Aircraft management direc-tor, commented.

Worldwide customer supportEmirates, Air France and Korean Air, all cus-

tomers with engines in service or preparing forservice entry, are active participants in theEA’s airline working group (AWG), a team com-prised of EA engineering and customer sup-port leaders which meets periodically to reviewthe engine’s performance and developimprovements. These and other EA customershave full access to the GE and P&W membercompanies’ worldwide customer support net-works, for comprehensive coverage around theclock. “When customers choose the GP7200they have the option of selecting either mem-ber company as their single point of contactfor aftermarket support,” notes MikeHoffmeister, EA customer service director.“This is just one additional way our JV is anadvantage for them.”

The EA team sought input from its customersvery early in the programme, with particularattention paid to maintainability and logistics.For example, the vast majority of GP7200 linereplaceable units (LRUs) are readily accessibleand designed to be replaced within four hours.

Borrowing a best practice from the GE90,the GP7200’s fan and propulsor were designedto be separated for shipping to enable the largeengine to fit into a variety of aircraft. “We’vemodularised the engine so you can take itapart with minimal tooling,” John Romprey, EAquality manager, said. By design, any givenGP7200 propulsor will assemble with anyGP7200 fan. “This also allows for shipment ofjust a propulsor for off-station engine changes,”Romprey explained. “The customer doesn’talways need or want a full spare engine, so thisapproach helps them to manage their inventorycosts and also provides great transportationflexibility.”

Technical issuesAll jet engines experience at least a few

technical issues upon entry into service andthe GP7200 is no exception. All issues areaddressed with a rigorous root cause analysisand corrective action plan, which is thenreviewed with customers, to ensure they areresolved. For example:

� Three months after entry into service anengine experienced an oil hiding event. Theoil pressure reading briefly dropped andreturned to normal, indicating that oil was

MTU

SNECMA

TECHSPACEAERO

GP7200 Revenue share participants

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43The Engine Yearbook 2011

temporarily hiding somewhere in theengine. The root cause was attributed to alow baffle clearance in the oil tank. Existingoil tanks were inspected for sufficientclearance and the assembly procedure wasmodified to ensure adequate baffleclearance on future builds.

� In 2009, an engine experienced rapid oilloss that was caused by a fracture in ascavenge tube fitting. The fracture wascaused by high cycle fatigue in the fitting. Abracket was added to the system toreposition the scavenge tube, effectivelyreducing the dynamic response.

� After a year in service, several pistonrings were found loose or missing duringa routine engine inspection. These pistonrings form a floating seal between theturbine centre frame (TCF) casing and theoil service lines that penetrate the TCFouter shell. The piston ring’s loose fit wasattributed to premature wearing of thecase cover plate and an excessive lead inthe chamfer at the assembly interface.The assembly interface was redesignedto eliminate the lead in the chamfer andthe TCF cover plate material was changedfrom Titanium to Inconel to improve thewear characteristics of the joint.

Emissions and noiseAt development, the GP7200 was required

to comply with CAEP4 emissions requirementsand London Heathrow QC4 noise standards.The engine’s emissions are well below CAEP4allowable levels and also meet the more strin-gent CAEP6 limits with margin.

In order to meet the stated QC4 noiserequirements, the GP7200 was configured witha 2.8m (110 in.) diameter fan that produced abypass ratio of 8:1. This would have easilyallowed the engine to meet QC4, but cus-tomers demanded that the A380 meet themore stringent QC2 noise requirements.Subsequently, the fan diameter was expandedto 2.96m (116.7 in.) effectively increasing thebypass ratio from 8:1 to 8:8. As a result, theGP7200 meets QC2 departure noise limits andQC0.5 limits on arrival. European AviationSafety Agency (EASA) certification test dataconfirmed the GP7200 is the quietest engineon the A380.

The GP7200-powered A380 may even be tooquiet. Four months after Emirates received its firstaircraft, It was reported that the Emirates crewwas finding it difficult to sleep on the A380 due tothe lack of engine noise, which they typically relyon to drown out passenger cabin sounds.

A look aheadThe Engine Alliance enjoys a fuel burn advan-

tage today, but realises it must continually exploreways to increase fuel efficiency to maintain itscompetitive advantage tomorrow. Since enteringservice, the GP7200 has lost 150lb of weight andEA engineers are working to trim it even more.

The EA also continues to run fleet leaderengines in the factory to identify potential issuesand improvements. Additionally, as each EA cus-

tomer prepares to enter service the AWG will grow,increasing the influx of ideas for enhancements.

“We want to ensure the GP7200 remainscompetitive for its current use on the A380 andfor any potential aircraft derivatives as well,”Jones said, “EA East and West are completelyaligned when it comes to maintaining theGP7200’s advantage”.

“Completely aligned” is a notable achieve-ment for two companies who weren’t supposedto get along. �

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