More Than 200 Of The Powerplants Ordered In The Past Six Months

2013 will be a strong year for CF34 engine orders as several North American regional jet operators are expected to make fleet renewal decisions, according to Allen Paxson, general manager of the CF34 Engine Program at GE Aviation. The company has received firm orders for more than 200 CF34 engines from customers since December 2012.

The orders include 47 firm orders and 47 options for CF34-powered E175 aircraft from Republic Airways (January); Five CF34-powered Embraer E175 and 15 CF34-powered E175 aircraft from Aldus Aviation (January); 40 firm orders and 30 options for CF34-powered Bombardier CRJ900 Next-Gen Aircraft from Delta (December); and  two CF34-powered E175 aircraft from Fuji Dream Airlines of Japan (December).

GE has delivered more than 5,700 CF34 engines since it entered service in 1992. The CF34 engine is in service with 200 operators in more than 70 countries. The engines have accumulated more than 92 million flight hours and 75 million cycles on Bombardier CRJ and Embraer E-Jet aircraft, and they have set the standard for dispatch reliability of 99.95%.
 
The CF34-10E engine is the highest thrust rating for the CF34 engine family at 20,000 pounds of thrust, with more than 1,200 CF34-10E engines in service with more than 60 operators of Embraer’s E190/195 aircraft and the EMBRAER Lineage 1000 business jet. The CF34-10E includes many advanced technologies, including a single-stage high-pressure turbine, advanced wide chord fan blades, advanced 3-D aero compressor and turbine airfoils and a chevron exhaust nozzle. The engine is still early in its lifecycle with the first production engines beginning to visit service facilities for their first shop visits. The engines have accumulated close to 10 million flight hours and 7 million cycles.

The CF34-10A engine continues to flight test on the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC) ARJ21 regional jet. About 20 GE engineers and field service support are assisting in the aircraft certification program. GE has also established an engine line maintenance training course at its Customer Training Center in Shanghai. COMAC has announced orders for more than 250 ARJ21 regional jet aircraft and forecasts a demand for up to 850 aircraft over the next 20 years.

More than 2,100 CF34-8 engines are in service with more than 70 operators of Bombardier CRJ700/CRJ900s (1390) and Embraer's E170/175s (780). The CF34-8 engines has evolved to provide greater thrust capability with lowered part count, improved durability and reduced maintenance costs. The CF34-8C1 upgrade to incorporate technology from the CF34-8C5 version to create a common engine for the CRJ700 and CRJ900 is complete on the fleet. The upgrade provides either up to 5 percent thrust increase or up to 15 percent lower maintenance costs. The engines have accumulated more than 29 million flight-hours and 21 million cycles.

GE Aviation's CF34-3 engines helped launch a new era in aviation when it entered service on Bombardier's CRJ100 aircraft in 1992, spawning the beginning of regional jet segment in commercial aviation. Close to 2,300 CF34-3A1 and -3B1 engines power the Bombardier CRJ100/200 aircraft. An upgrade package can convert the CF34-3A1 to a CF34-3B1 to improve fuel burn and climb thrust capability.

FMI: www.ge.com