Photo courtesy GE Aerospace

CINCINNATI, OH—GE Aerospace plans to invest nearly $1 billion in its U.S. factories and supply chain. The initiative aims to strengthen manufacturing and increase the use of innovative new parts and materials needed for the future of flight.

The short-term goal is to increase production capacity at several facilities that support the assembly of the company’s narrowbody CFM LEAP engine, where deliveries are expected to increase by up to 20 percent this year. The popular product, which boasts lower fuel consumption rates than traditional jet engines, is used to power commercial single-aisle aircraft such as the Boeing 737 MAX and the Airbus A320neo.

"Investing in manufacturing and innovation is more critical than ever for the future of our industry and the communities where we operate," says H. Lawrence Culp, Jr., chairman and CEO of GE Aerospace. "We are committed to helping our customers modernize and expand their fleets while scaling technologies that will truly define the future of flight. Together, this will keep the United States at the forefront of aerospace leadership."

Investments will includes the following:

*$113 million in the greater Cincinnati area. Facility upgrades and additional equipment for several sites in the area that produce, test and assemble many of the company’s commercial and military engines.

*$70 million in Muskegon, MI. Breaking ground on an expansion to produce parts for the hot section of the LEAP engine.

*$16 million in Durham, NC, $5 million in Lafayette, IN, for additional equipment to support the assembly of commercial engines, including LEAP.

*$13 million in West Jefferson, NC, to increase production of key parts of the engine.

*$200 million investment in Lynn, MA, and Madisonville, KY, for military engine production.

According to Culp, GE Aerospace is also investing in state-of-the-art production facilities in Asheville, NC, and Huntsville, AL, to mass-produce advanced materials such as ceramic matrix composites. It’s also beefing up additive manufacturing technology at plants in Auburn, AL, and West Chester, OH.

LEAP engines are products of CFM International, a 50-50 joint venture between GE Aerospace and Safran Aircraft Engines. GE Aerospace pioneered jet aircraft engine technology in the 1940s.

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