GE Aerospace: Air India order of 800+ engines is ‘good news’ for Ohio

The news comes after a challenging three years for the newly re-branded GE Aerospace and the rest of the aviation industry.

“This deal is great news for GE’s Aerospace workers in Ohio and across the country, with more than 20 U.S. facilities involved in producing these engines, providing more work for thousands of U.S. employees,” the Evendale-based company said.

Air India announced that it’s buying 400 single-aisle and 70 twin-aisle commercial aircraft — and to power the larger airliners — Boeing 787 and 777X twin-engine jets — the carrier signed an agreement with GE Aerospace for 40 GEnx-1B and 20 GE9X engines, plus engine services.

Air India will also buy more than 800 LEAP engines from CFM International, a 50-50 joint company between GE and Safran Aircraft Engines, to outfit the smaller planes in the order, 210 Airbus A320/A321neo aircraft and 190 Boeing 737 MAX-family aircraft, GE said.

“It’s the biggest ever (order) for an Indian airline and ranks close to the top worldwide in both value and volume,” GE Aerospace said in a blog post Tuesday, adding that it “signals the recovery of commercial aviation after years of COVID shutdowns.”

Questions were sent to GE Aerospace about the order’s jobs implications in the Dayton area.

The storied company has long been a major employer in Southwestern Ohio. Pre-pandemic, the company had about 1,500 employees working in what were then four local facilities, sites which saw a $1 billion total annual investment. The company had about 300 employees at its University of Dayton-based EPISCenter alone. And based in Butler County’s West Chester Twp. is CFM International, a joint venture of GE and French company Snecma.

Pre-pandemic, there were about 1,600 total employees in the Dayton area. About 9,000 Ohioans work for the company in total.

The company is also one of the biggest suppliers to military aviation, a key partner to the Air Force and Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, the heart of the Air Force’s research and logistics missions.

GE continues work on its XA100 engine for the F-35 fighter jet, intending to meet Air Force goals for the Adaptive Engine Transition Program. GE says the new engine offers 25% better fuel efficiency, 10% more thrust and more power and thermal management capacity than current engines.