GE Aerospace is confident that it will meet sharply rising demand from both airframe manufacturers and the aftermarket in 2023, top executive Larry Culp said.
“We do expect new units to grow more rapidly than services,” CEO Larry Culp said on the company’s 2022 fourth-quarter (Q4) earnings call Jan. 24.
CFM, the GE/Safran joint venture, delivered 1,136 Leap-family motors in 2022, GE reported. GE’s projections have CFM Leap-family engine deliveries increasing “about 50%” in 2023, Culp said, or about 1,700 units.
The uptick is part of a ramp-up to meet rising production rates on the all-CFM-powered Boeing 737 MAX program, as well as on the Airbus A320neo family, which splits its engines between CFM’s Leap and Pratt & Whitney’s PW1000G geared turbofan.
Supply-chain constraints have been challenging both enginemakers, contributing to lower-than-projected delivery totals out of the two major airframers in 2022.
CFM has been targeting 2,000 deliveries in 2023, a figure that Safran CEO Olivier Andries acknowledged in November 2022 would be “a challenge.” Culp’s projections suggest the figure will not be hit.
Still, GE is confident original equipment (OE) momentum is building. Culp pointed to GE’s Terre Haute, Indiana, turbine-frame production facility as an example. The shop started 2022 “about 50 pieces delinquent,” Culp told analysts. A mix of new processes and “daily management” targeting efficiency improvements have increased output “over 20%” and booted productivity “about 10%,” Culp said.
Most importantly, the factory is no longer behind. “Today, they are on schedule,” he said. “With our 2023 demand, we’ll need to continue to use Lean in this way to deliver for our customers.”
GE Aerospace’s total Q4 organic revenues of $7.6 billion were up 26% year-over-year (YOY). OE sales totaled $2.4 billion, up 24%. On the services side, Q4 revenues totaled $5.2 billion, a 26% gain. Segment profit was $1.4 billion, up 18%.
GE Aerospace’s full-year figure of $26.1 billion of total revenue was up 22% YOY. OE revenue of $7.9 billion increased 5%, while the total aftermarket sales figure of $18.2 billion jumped 32%, largely on the strength of rising commercial activity. Segment profit was $4.8 billion, a 66% jump.
“GE and CFM departures are close to 90% of [2019] levels, and we expect to be back to [2019] levels later this year,” Culp said.
GE Aerospace expects its full-year 2023 OE business revenue to grow 20%, while services will increase 15-20% and military in the high single digits. The combination should yield a mid-to-high teen increase in total aerospace revenue and a segment operating profit of $5.3-5.7 billion.
“We’re laser-focused on supporting airframers, airlines and lessors as they ramp post-pandemic,” Culp said. “Today that means providing stability and predictability for our customers—keeping our mature fleet flying and growing our new fleet.”
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