In the context of my last post I wondered why MTU now starts
talking about an upgraded GTF to be delivered in 2019. We are one and a half
years away from EIS of the PW1100G on the A320neo and the engine is - well – not selling bad. Why announcing an
upgrade now? To enhance SFC by 3% does not sound cheap - GE and RR needed two improvement packages to bring the engines for the B787 to SFC spevc level.
Furthermore MTU COO
Rainer Martens told the press that these enhancements could also be implemented
into the other PW1000G family members (PW1200G/PW1700G for MRJ/E175E2 and
PW1500G/PW1900G for CSeries/E190E2&E195E2). So we can be sure that all
aircraft OEM’s will sooner or later ask for the upgrades, just a couple of years after EIS
of their respective aircraft – remember that the E175E2 should have an EIS in
2020, AFTER the PW1100G is available with the upgrade. Sounds like all the development
engineers will have secure jobs at P&W, MTU, JAEC and the other PW1000G
partners for the years to come. Good for them, bad for the "bean counters" in the companies and the financial breakeven
of the engine programs.
For Airbus, the revelation has probably a good and a bad side. The good side is that the A320neo will enhance the competitive position against the B737MAX (and maybe later a CS500), but also the A319neo could be in a better position against the CS300. On the other side, remaining delivery positions for the A320neo in 2018 will be not that easy to fill without giving another discount for not getting the upgrade.
