General Electric (GE) has delivered its 3,000th GE90 engine used to power the Boeing 777 aircraft.
According to GE, 408 are base engines (GE90-94B), while the remaining 2,592 are growth engines.
The engine maker also added that the GE90 was one of three choices for the 777 when Boeing initially launched the program, with the powerplant later becoming the exclusive option for the Boeing 777-300ER and Boeing 777-200LR aircraft.
“We owe a tremendous debt of gratitude to Boeing, our GE90 customers around the world, and all of the dedicated workers who have made this marvel of an engine one of aviation’s great success stories,” Nate Hoening, the GE90 program manager, said.
The company also shared some of the GE90 engine’s “firsts”, including that it was the first engine with carbon fiber composite fan blades, as well as the first to be certified for Extended-range Twin-engine Operation Performance Standards (ETOPS).
ETOPS allowed GE90-powered aircraft, like the Boeing 777, to operate routes with no diversionary airport within one hour of flight at the normal one-engine cruise speed.
The company delivered the 1,000th GE90 engine to Emirates in November 2009. Meanwhile, the 2,000th GE90 was delivered in December 2014.
“It took 11 years to build 500 GE90 engines, and in a little more than three years, we doubled deliveries to 1000,” Tony Aiello, the then-general manager of the GE90 Product line, said in November 2009.
A more powerful derivative of the GE90, the GE9X, will be the only choice for the Boeing 777X.
Brian West, the chief financial officer (CFO) and executive vice president of Finance at Boeing, said that the 777X is expected to enter service in 2025 when he spoke during the Jefferies Industrials Conference in early September 2023.