Almost three full decades ago a battle was raging over the powerplant options for what was then the all-new Airbus A320. The competitors–CFM International and International Aero Engines (IAE)–were making claim and counter-claim as to the potential advantages their respective engines would bring to the aircraft, which had been developed to grab a slice of the huge single-aisle market until then dominated by the ubiquitous Boeing 737.
Today, the fight to power the much-anticipated son-of-the-A320 is no less intense. But this time it is the re-engined, “sharklet” wing-tipped version: the A320neo. CFM International is still there in its original 50/50, transatlantic partnership between GE Aviation and Snecma, but this time only one of the original five IAE partners is present: Pratt & Whitney, which at the time of writing had taken all of the 332 orders and options for the aircraft with its all-new PW1100G geared fan engine. Rolls-Royce, the other major IAE partner, is absent from the competition, its future single-aisle strategy depending entirely on powering all-new single-aisle aircraft.
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