CFM and the LEAP: how the Safran-GE joint company works

A framework agreement signed in 1974

CFM International was born of a framework agreement signed in 1974 between Snecma, now Safran Aircraft Engines, and General Electric, now GE Aerospace. The two engine makers had already been working together since 1968 on the CF6 family. The founding principle is simple and rare in the industry: a joint company owned 50/50, in which both partners share equally in design, development, production, support, marketing and sales.

The agreement was renewed in 2008 and extended to 2040, giving exceptional long-term visibility to a transatlantic partnership. CFM is headquartered in Cincinnati, but final engine assembly takes place both at GE facilities in the United States and at Safran sites in France.

From the CFM56 to the LEAP

The CFM56 laid the foundation of this success: more than 30,000 units produced according to Safran in 2016, across some thirty applications. Its successor, the LEAP, was launched in 2008 with a target of around 15% lower fuel consumption than the previous generation, and an equivalent reduction in CO2 emissions.

The engine comes in three versions: the LEAP-1A for the Airbus A320neo family, the LEAP-1B for the Boeing 737 MAX and the LEAP-1C for the COMAC C919. The first commercial passenger flight took place in early August 2016, on a Pegasus Airlines A320neo.

Safran's technological contributions

Safran highlights several technologies originating from its design offices and plants:

• 3D woven composite fan blades, made using a resin transfer moulding (RTM) process developed and patented by Safran Aircraft Engines;
• the use of ceramic matrix composites (CMCs) in the hot section;
• low-pressure turbine blades made of titanium aluminide;
• fuel injectors produced by additive manufacturing.

Safran's LEAP final assembly line is located at Villaroche (Seine-et-Marne), a site that has received France's "Showcase for the Industry of the Future" label.

An unprecedented ramp-up

The LEAP stands out as much for its industrialisation as for its technology. In 2016 Safran stated that the LEAP would reach in four years a production rate that the CFM56 had taken 35 years to achieve. The programme relies on more than 150 direct suppliers in 14 countries, and purchased parts account for more than two-thirds of an engine's cost.

This structure explains why the supply difficulties seen across the industry after the pandemic weighed on engine deliveries, and in turn on aircraft deliveries. Forgings, castings and advanced materials are made by a limited number of qualified suppliers, and every new source requires a lengthy qualification process.

A long-term stake: the aftermarket

An engine maker's business model relies heavily on the aftermarket: spare parts, maintenance and service contracts spanning several decades. Each engine delivered then generates support revenue throughout its operational life. This is also why balancing the production of new engines against spare parts is a permanent industrial trade-off for CFM and its parent companies.

A mirrored organisation on both sides of the Atlantic

The 50/50 split does not mean that every engine is built half in each country in an undifferentiated way. Each partner is responsible for modules and technologies it has mastered, and both have final assembly capacity. This mirrored organisation offers a degree of industrial redundancy, which is useful when a site or a supply chain runs into difficulty. It also means that decisions on rates, pricing and support policy must be agreed jointly, a governance model that has proved remarkably stable over five decades of collaboration.

Key takeaways

CFM illustrates a durable model of industrial cooperation founded on a strictly equal partnership. For the French industry, the LEAP represents a considerable production volume concentrated around Safran and its suppliers, making its supply chain a leading indicator of the health of civil aeronautics as a whole.