By Rajesh Kumar Singh
CHICAGO, July 16 (Reuters) – GE Aerospace CEO Larry Culp said on Thursday that shipments of GEnx engines for Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner had risen sharply, pushing back against concerns that engine delays could hold up the planemaker’s planned production increase.
Several months’ worth of GEnx engines are already on site at Boeing’s Charleston, South Carolina, assembly plant, Culp told Reuters, adding deliveries of GE’s widebody engines rose 30% from a year earlier in the second quarter. GEnx shipments increased by “significantly more,” he said.
“So, we don’t think we’re pacing deliveries whatsoever,” he said in an interview.
Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg said in May that the planemaker’s goal of raising 787 production to 10 aircraft a month from about eight depended in part on GE’s engine-delivery recovery plan, as well as easing constraints involving premium-seat certifications.
Culp said GE would need to continue increasing deliveries to support the higher production rates Boeing is targeting.
“GE will support and is supporting the 787 ramp,” he said. “We’re highly motivated. We’re well aligned. There’s no debate there. We will be with them every step of the way.”
Boeing did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
About 80% of 787s are powered by GE engines, making the program critical to the engine maker as international demand for widebody aircraft rises.
Asked whether GEnx delivery delays had been resolved, Culp said GE would work closely with Boeing to meet its requirements as 787 production increased.
He also said the civil engine supply chain had improved, although deliveries would need to rise further in the second half and again next year.
(Reporting by Rajesh Kumar Singh; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama, Emelia Sithole-Matarise and Sanjeev Miglani)
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