A PARTNERSHIP FOR THE AGES

CFM International is entering its 50th year of operations and is now the dominant player in the Indian aeroengine market, as detailed in a report by ATUL CHANDRA.

- ATUL CHANDRA

In the annals of aviation history, the Joint Venture (JV) between Snecma (Safran Group) and General Electric Company (GE) known as CFM International has proven to be an enduring and outstanding success. It was in September 1974 that GE and Snecma formally inked the agreement to establish CFM International as a 50/50 JV company. Boeing was early to realise the full potential of the CFM56 engine and in 1977, company president Thornton Wilson contacted CFM International with a proposal to replace the Boeing 707’s engines with the CFM56. However, CFM International’s early years were fraught with challenges. By 1979, the French Government had threatened to put the programme on hold as no contracts from aircraft manufacturers had been obtained eight years after the start of the project and five years after the creation of the JV.

There was light at the end of the tunnel however and later that year, just two weeks before the entire JV was set to be cancelled; U.S. carrier United Airlines, along with Delta Airlines and Flying Tigers emerged as the launch customers for the CFM56-2 engine which would be installed on re-engined McDonnell Douglas DC-8 Super 70 aircraft. This was also the same year that the U.S. Air Force choose to re-engine its KC-135 tankers with CFM562 engines. CFM International had taken wing!