When BA decided to buy the RR Trent engine for a batch of 16
777-200ERs some time ago, instead of the GE90 as they did on their first “triple sevens”, I think they did a mistake. Yes they were under political pressure, but to have a fleet with a higher commonality makes bigger sense than to lay flat for political pressure. They are already great RR customers and that is a good thing. Having decided on the GE90 in 93/94 I think that they should have continued along that path. With a GE exclusive power source for the -200LR and -300ER, the whole Trent order makes little sense..
what do you think??
By: Arabella-Cox - 15th October 2000 at 09:21
RE: BA`s Trent engines
As for your question on engines durability, I dont really think that matters, all engines have to be durable, BA obviously had its reasons as to why it chose Trents for the second batch of 777s, as for the first batch, the Ge 90 was selected for 2 reasons, firstly the trent was not ready, secondly BA were offered a discount for the 777s if it chose the GE 90.
I prefer to use an airline and or airliner that uses RR power as I beleive them to be more reliable, certainly the RB211 535E4 which powers the 757 has the lowest removal and in flight shut down rate of any engine, I also like the rear exhaust cowling on all RR engines with the huge hole, unlike PW and GE, the IAE V2000 and 2500 which pwers some A320/321s are a nice clean engine aswell.
Here is a thought, imagine how many Rolls Royce Dart engines have been produced, and applied to so many types, viscount.herald,748,f27,andover,argosy,namcys 11, fh227, not many reports of engine problems on these ???
By: Bhoy - 12th October 2000 at 18:17
RE: BA`s Trent engines
I Don’t know.
It probably depends which side of the pond you ask for an anwser about that.
I prefer RR, but then my uncle was a designer for them, involved in the Tay project.
By: Arabella-Cox - 12th October 2000 at 17:33
RE: BA`s Trent engines
I have heard that Rolls Royce powerplants are more durable than other makes such as GE and P&W, is this true?
By: Bhoy - 11th October 2000 at 20:59
RE: BA`s Trent engines
When BA originally chose the 777-200, the Trent wasn’t avaliable. It has only become apparent over the last year that the GE90 would be the exclusive powerplant for the 777-200LR, and 777-300ER. However, personally, I don’t think BA will be interested in purchasing either variant in the near term.
Incidentally, it has happened before. BA’s 747-100s used PW JT9D engines, while the 747-200/747-400’s all used RR RB211’s.
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October 11, 2000 at 5:23 pm