Lafayette among locations to share in $1B GE Aerospace investment
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The GE Aerospace plant in Lafayette is among more than a dozen worldwide in line to receive a share of more than $1 billion over the next five years by the airplane engine manufacturer to improve its maintenance and repair facilities.
The Lafayette plant joins U.S. plants in Cincinnati; Dallas; McAllen, Texas; and Winfield, Kansas to receive a total of $65 million in improvements in the first year of the program, GE Aerospace said.
The U.S. investments as well as improvements to plants in the Asia Pacific, Europe, the Middle East and South America represent $250 million of the overall investment to fund facilities expansion, new machines, safety enhancements and other upgrades.
The specific investment in Lafayette was undisclosed. A GE Aerospace spokesperson said the funds will go toward new tooling, inspection technology and other upgrades to increase the shop’s capacity as LEAP engines on aircraft get closer to their first required shop visit for maintenance. The LEAP engine is on narrow body aircraft, including the Airbus A320neo and the Boeing 737MAX.
“Our customers are experiencing strong air travel demand, and we are investing to increase our capacity and efficiency so we can meet their growing needs and keep their planes flying safely and reliably,” Russell Stokes, GE Aerospace’s president and CEO of commercial engines and services, said in a news release. “With this major investment, we are reinforcing our longstanding focus on safety, quality, and delivery for our customers and the flying public.”
GE Aerospace said more than 3,300 LEAP-powered aircraft are now in service and more than 10,000 additional engines are in backlog, which will increase the global commercial airline fleet by thousands of planes in the coming years.
The announcement Friday comes about four months after GE Aerospace announced a $5.9 million investment at the Lafayette plant for additional equipment and new tooling to increase the assembly of engines for narrowbody and regional aircraft, particularly the LEAP engines.
That investment was among $650 million in improvements planned nationwide, including $5 million at its Terre Haute facility for new machines, additional specialized tooling and building upgrades.
GE Aerospace has nearly 700 employees in Indiana.