Rolls-Royce Exec Vows To Fight Back In Boeing 787 Market

DUBAI—Rolls-Royce says better-than-expected in-service results from its Trent 7000 engine durability upgrade on the Airbus A330neo has bolstered confidence that the same updates for the Trent 1000 XE sister engine will help it win back market share on the Boeing 787.

The first 787-9 with the upgraded high-pressure turbine (HPT) at the core of the XE package was delivered to Lufthansa earlier this month. Rolls-Royce views this milestone, together with news that time-on-wing has now tripled for some operators of the Trent 7000 DE (durability enhancement) package, as a turning point in its ongoing campaign to restore operator confidence in the engine’s improved durability.

“I believe the XE is a very competitive engine,” says Rob Watson, president of Rolls-Royce's Civil Aerospace division, here at Dubai Airshow. “It's through lifecycle costs are competitive. We've been very clear: We want to build our market share. We work very closely with Boeing and the team in Charleston, and we are really looking forward to getting some campaign wins under our belt and building market share for the Trent 1000,” he adds.

Despite a string of recent campaign losses to competitor GE Aerospace’s GEnx-1B, including orders for GE-powered 787s from Turkish Airlines and flydubai, Watson remains undeterred. “I believe I'm going to win every campaign that I go into—so until I don't win them, I'm going to tell you that I feel we're always on the front foot.” Rolls-Royce’s current share of 787 firm orders is down to just 22%, the company acknowledges.

“We've got lots of creative solutions around that engine, but fundamentally, we know from the Trent 7000 that it's durable and it's very reliable. And now we get into the time-on-wing that we wanted to get to it's going to be a great product,” Watson says.

The revised HPT blade in both engines has 40% additional cooling flow which, along with a revised cooling hole pattern, enables the blade to survive significantly longer. The earlier design proved vulnerable to wear and cracking, leading to mandated life limits and frequent inspections—shortcomings that have affected operators and proven damaging to Rolls-Royce in terms of cost, reputation and ultimately market share on the 787.

Rolls-Royce is now focused on incorporating the Durability Enhancement package through the Trent 1000 TEN fleet, and has expanded its MRO capacity in Germany, Singapore and the UK to expedite the process. With an additional phase of the enhancement package due to be added in 2026, Rolls-Royce plans to transition the entire Trent TEN fleet to the XE standard by the end of 2027.

“We’re rolling the improvements through our MRO shops, and I think already the first 60 or 70 engines are picking up the new blade,” Watson says. “So that roll program will run for two years, and next year we've got a further improvement that will give us a further 30% boost to time-on-wing. So, we have a lot of product development to deliver,” he adds.