Rolls-Royce confident in upgraded Trent 1000 engine amid competition from GE Aerospace

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Rolls-Royce confident in upgraded Trent 1000 engine amid competition from GE Aerospace

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Simple Flying | Simple Flying

By Sky Industry News

Nov 25, 2024

Rolls-Royce is working on enhancing the Trent 1000 engine, which powers the Boeing 787 aircraft, with upcoming upgrades aimed at improving its durability and sales. The company's CEO, Tufan Erginbilgiç, expressed optimism in an interview with Bloomberg about having a competitive engine by the end of 2025.

The Trent 1000 has faced durability issues, but Rolls-Royce remains hopeful that the improvements will help secure more orders. Since the first Boeing 787 was delivered to All Nippon Airways in 2011 with Trent 1000 engines, Rolls-Royce has competed against GE Aerospace's GEnx engine for market share.

Boeing's data indicates that out of 2,388 gross orders for the Boeing 787 as of October 31, only 550 were equipped with the Trent 1000. In contrast, GE Aerospace secured orders for 1,526 aircraft with their GEnx engines.

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Rolls-Royce is developing a Durability Enhancement package for the Trent 1000 to increase time-on-wing (TOW) and reduce emissions. A re-engineered high-pressure turbine blade (HPTB) is a key component of this upgrade. Another planned upgrade aims to improve TOW by an additional 30%.

"The certification programme is progressing and after recently securing engine certification with EASA," Rolls-Royce stated. They expect to offer these upgrades starting in early 2025 while seeking Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) certification soon.

Despite supply chain challenges affecting aerospace production, Rolls-Royce continues to focus on improving its operations and supplier relationships.

The company has struggled to retain customers recently. EL AL ordered Trent 1000 engines for its latest Boeing 787 order; however, International Airlines Group chose GEnx engines for British Airways' new planes despite previously using Rolls-Royce engines. Air New Zealand also opted for GEnx engines due to frustrations over supply issues related to parts for the Trent 1000.