GE Aircraft Engines has won a commanding share of the world's regional jet airliner market with its CF34 turbofan engine, which was recently chosen to power Fairchild Dornier's new family of 55- to 90-passenger aircraft. This is its second straight victory over the SPW14 proposed by Snecma and Pratt & Whitney Canada, which it also beat to power Bombardier Aerospace's 70-passenger Canadair Regional Jet Series 700. The CF34 already powers the 50-passenger Canadair Regional Jet, of which 245 are in airline service out of a total of 376 firm orders.

GE is very enthusiastic about the regional jet market, and predicts that as many as 1,700 new 60- to 90-passenger aircraft could be sold in the next 20 years, including 400 in the 728JET's size range.

The engine chosen by Fairchild Dornier is the 14,000-pound-thrust CF34-8D engine, which is a derivative of the -8C1 chosen by Bombardier for its Series 700 airliner. The new -8D engine is expected to begin tests in the fourth quarter of 1999, with FAA certification slated for the first quarter of 2001. The -8C1 began tests earlier this year and should be certified in late 1999.

Fairchild Dornier is planning three types of CF34-powered twinjets: the 95-seat 928JET, the 75-seat 728JET, and the 55-seat 528JET. The first of the three to enter flight testing will be the 728JET, in the first quarter of 2000.

Lufthansa CityLine and Crossair are considering buying substantial numbers of 728JETs, and each carrier played a major role in defining the aircraft and choosing major suppliers such as the engine manufacturer. Both are current customers of GE Aircraft Engines.

The selection agreement named GE as supplier of the propulsion package, which includes the powerplant and nacelle. GE has chosen a joint company formed by Hurel-Dubois and Aermacchi to provide the engine's nacelle and cascade-type thrust reverser.

The CF34-8C1 for Bombardier and the CF34-8D for Fairchild Dornier will be 87% common overall, while the turbomachinery for the two engines will be 100% common. Major differences between the two will be in the nacelles and in installation hardware. Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy Industries of Japan has design responsibility for the low pressure turbine, fan and gearbox. IHI is a 30% revenue sharing partner with GE on the CF34-8 family.

By John Morris