TXT Textron Inc

By Ted Mann 

General Electric Co. said it is developing a new family of turboprop engines, taking aim at a market stronghold of rival Pratt & Whitney.

GE said Monday it had signed on with Textron Inc., maker of Cessna, Hawker and Beechcraft planes, to provide the power plant for a new single-engine plane it will launch toward the end of the decade. Textron accounts for more than half of all general aviation aircraft in use today, the company says.

The announcement is GE's boldest move to crack into a market that has been dominated for decades by Pratt & Whitney, a division of United Technologies Corp. Pratt has sold more than 50,000 engines for small planes like Cessnas used by general aviation pilots.

On Monday, Pratt also announced a new variant of its PT6 engine that it said would boost power and efficiency from previous models. The PT6 is the dominant engine on general aviation aircraft, according to data from the General Aviation Manufacturers Association, a trade group. And Textron has been a major customer for Pratt's PT6 engines, which it uses on brands like Cessna and Beechcraft. Those two brands shipped 221 airplanes equipped with Pratt engines last year, according to GAMA's data, down from 240 the previous year.

In a news release, Textron said it expected the new plane to outperform competitors in cost and performance.

Nicholas Kanellias, general manager of general aviation programs for Pratt & Whitney Canada, which makes the PT6, said the company was continuing to improve and upgrade the engines, and would do so despite the new challenge from GE.

"We have spent over 50 years focusing on innovation and working closely" with customers, Mr. Kanellias said. "We have done this in a competitive landscape throughout these 50 plus years."

GE is using some of the technology and strategy developed in its much larger commercial jet engine business as it prepares to more aggressively take on the turboprop market, said Brad Mottier, general manager of business and general aviation in GE's engine business.

The company will develop and test the new engine at a $400 million new turboprop center it is building in Europe. GE already builds turboprops at a factory in the Czech Republic and says the expanded center will support up to 1,000 jobs. The company says it will launch the first full test of the new engine in 2018.

While general aviation engines spend far less time in the air than those on commercial airliners, they also require much more frequent overhaul and maintenance, Mr. Mottier said, offering the promise of a steady stream of service revenue.

The new GE engine will feature computerized management of the engine and propulsion controls that will allow 20% greater fuel efficiency and 10% greater power than comparable models, Mr. Mottier said.

Winning the deal with Textron to provide engines for its new aircraft was crucial to GE's efforts, Mr. Mottier said. Unlike the commercial engine market, where there are only a few major airframers, the market for small aircraft is much more fragmented and diverse. "If you win Textron, you can justify a new program investment," he said.

Write to Ted Mann at ted.mann@wsj.com

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(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 16, 2015 14:18 ET (19:18 GMT)

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