CFM International has received today the Type Certificate for its LEAP-1B engine from both the both the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the company said in a press release.
“This is another great milestone for the LEAP program and the hard-working team behind it,” said Allen Paxson, executive vice president for CFM. “Everyone, from the project and engineering teams to manufacturing and our suppliers, has done an incredible job of keeping this program on schedule and building an engine that is delivering everything that we have promised.”
The LEAP-1B is the exclusive powerplant of the Boeing 737 MAX, which is currently undergoing a test flight campaign prior to its delivery to its first operator, Southwest Airlines, expected to take place in the third quarter of 2017. The new engine is expected to deliver a 15% reduction in fuel consumption when compared to the current generation.
“We couldn’t be happier with the way this engine is performing,” said Francois Bastin, executive vice president of CFM International. “Boeing is racking up an impressive number of flight hours with the test aircraft and initial indications are that engine performance is meeting expectations.”
The 737 MAX recently completed its first international flight, which included a series of tests in Bolivia, in order to test the engine’s capabilities under “high and hot” environments. Keith Leverkuhn, vice president and general manager of the 737 MAX program, Boeing Commercial Airplanes commented that the engine performed “as expected, under extreme conditions.”
(Culled from airwaysnews.com)
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