Delta Air Lines ordered 200 CFM International LEAP-1B engines for its new fleet of Boeing 737 MAX 10 aircraft. In addition, the airline’s maintenance division, Delta TechOps, became an official MRO supplier for the LEAP-1B engines.
Of the 200-engine order, which also includes options to purchase an additional 60, Mahendra Nair, senior vice president of Delta TechOps, said: «These engines offer key operational advantages to our ongoing effort to improve our fleet». The relationship between Delta and CFM is long-standing: the was the first to use CFM engines. On March 24, 1982, a McDonnell Douglas DC-8-71 powered by CFM56-2 engines linked Atlanta and Savannah, Georgia. It has operated CFM engines continuously since then and, to this day, has more than 440 CFM-powered aircraft in its fleet.
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Gaël Méheust, president and CEO of CFM International, added to Nair’s remarks that the manufacturer is «delighted to have the opportunity to bring all the benefits of the LEAP engine to Delta’s fleet.» On the operational advantages of the new generation of powerplants, he said CFM customers «are seeing 15 to 20 percent reduction in fuel consumption, and the highest dispatch reliability and utilization rates within this thrust range.» Since entering service, the LEAP-1B engine has accumulated five million flight hours over 1.9 million cycles.
Maintenance agreement
In parallel with the order, Delta and CFM International signed an agreement that makes the TechOps division the latest addition to CFM’s maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) network. The airline will be able to work on both its own and third-party LEAP-1B engines, thus becoming the first LEAP-1B MRO provider in North America. About this agreement, Nair mentioned that it would «provide Delta and other customers with extensive benefits over the life of the product.
On the other hand, Tom Levin, vice president of strategic aftermarket solutions at GE Aviation (CFM’s parent company), added that «having Delta as both a customer and a colleague is very satisfying.» On the demand for LEAP family maintenance, he said, «Shop visits will multiply over the next five to ten years due to the volume of engines in service. This agreement is another critical step in expanding our MRO network to meet that growth».
