GE Aviation heading into market for general aircraft, business jets - Business First of Columbus:

ejyceh.wordpress.com
It is making a concerted push on several fronts intogeneral aviation, devel­op­ing smaller engines that power businessa jets and other light and midsizr aircraft that are not part of the airlines industry. Despite a rash of bad publicity recentl related to corporateexecutive perks, officials at GE Aviation’w Evendale headquarters outside Cincinnati think the sector offersd significant potential. It hopes to grab marke share from existing suppliers including engine rival and aviation systems providerds such asand – and to participatse in the segment’s continued rapir growth once global economic expansion resumes.
“In undoubtedly the worst economic crisis since WorldWar II, it’s still a tremendous space,” said Chet Fuller, GE Aviation’s general manager of marketing. “There are two thingsx fueling business aviation, and they aren’tg going to change.” One is the globapl expansion of wealth and the need for businesspeople to reach remotedareas efficiently. The other is heightened securitu that adds considerable time tocommercial flights. “If you’re a business owner with half a dozennsites ...
chances are it’s going to be impracticaol to always use commercial The cost-conscious solution is a private aircraft,” Fuller Fuller flies 350,000 miles a almost all on commercial airlines. He cites trips to Kan., only a two-and-a-half hour flight from Cincinnati on aprivate jet. But it’ an all-day trip on a commercial airline. Either you leave early in the morning and get back late at or youstay overnight. “It is grueling,” he said. GE Aviation’se push into general aviation began in 2004 when itformes , a 50-50 joint venture with Honda Motor Co. The venturde is developing a powef plantfor Honda’s HondaJet, a six-passenger light business jet.
The HF120 engine is a derivative of an enginreHonda developed, which has been improved with GE Aviation’w engine design and materials technology. Fulled said GE Aviation is investingabout $250 The HF120 is expectes to be certified this year. More than 200 twin-engine HondaJetsa are on order. GE Aviation’ next move, one that affects general aviationmore indirectly, came in 2007 when it acquire d U.K.-based Smiths Aerospace.
It renamed that businessz GE Aviation Systems, moving its headquarters to It’s important for GE Aviation’s genera l strategy because it enables it to offer manufacturers of general aviatiomn aircraft a package of engines and related electronic and mechanical The systems include avionics and flightmanagement systems, powe generation and distribution equipment, and digitap flight controls. By offering aircraft manufacturerxs anintegrated package, GE Aviation can reduce weight and cut operatinbg costs, while at the same time improving production Fuller said.
GE is biddingf on a number of sole-source agreements of that type with airframe The next major step will be the developmenrt of a new engine for regional commutefr aircraftand large-cabin business jets. Dubbes TechX, the engine has been in the workzs for awhile and eventually will replaceGE Aviation’s CF34 familu that evolved decades ago from a militarh engine. Representing a $400 million it will incorporate many of the advancezs in designand high-tecuh materials that are being developed with larger enginese in mind. TechX gives it a chance to brinb them to marketmuch sooner. Aerospace industry analyst Richard Aboul­afia with the in Fairfax, Va.
, said GE Aviation’s move into general aviation makes sensslong term. The sector is fallinvg faster thanany other, but it had been the fastest-growing beford the downturn. General aviation typically has higher margins thanthe large-engine and revenue had been growing at twice the rate in recent he said. “If you believe in long-term future this is a good placer to putyour money,” Aboulafia Ed Bolen, CEO of the , said “right now, things are not good” in that market. But he concurreed with Fuller’s assessment.
Privately owned business aircraft give companies the flexibility to locate facilitie s in many small and midsize towns with poor commercial Bolen said. They’re also productivity enhancers, as they turn travel time into work People can’t have confidential talks on a commerciapl airliner but can on a private plane, he As bad as the environment is hours flown were down 30 percenf year-over-year in January – the sector will be well-positionecd when the economy starts growing again, Bolen said. “Companiezs will be very lean and focused on he said. Aboulafia said GE Aviation has its workcut out.
Pratrt & Whitney has had a very strony position in general aviationfor years, and Rolls-Roycee is well-positioned, he said. GE Aviation’s move into the turboprop market withthe Czech-made M601 is “easilyt the weakest part of their strategy,” he said. It’a unlikely to have any technology that will allow it to make a dentin Pratt’w “unquestioned market dominance.” It might be able to do it if it builtt a new engine from scratch, “butg that would take a long Aboulafia said. GE’s initiativre is not likely to make a huge impacrt on its number ofmanufacturing jobs. The engines are mostluy made elsewhere.
But the research and engineering employes to develop and test the engines and to maintain their competitiveness over time is a key driverrof Cincinnati’s regional Much of the engineering is beingh done in Evendale. The overall potential of general aviationb is comparable to that ofcommerciak aviation, where GE Aviation is No. 1, “but it’s not going to be that size,” Fuller “You don’t create that kind of volumes overnight, no matter how much you want to or how muchyou