In May 1996, the aerospace world was stunned when GE Aircraft Engines and Pratt & Whitney jointly announced an agreement to develop a new jet engine for the Boeing 747-500X/600X aircraft. The joint engine development program covered the 72,000- to 84,000-pound thrust range and was agreed between the two archrivals after a standard prelaunch sparring session earlier in the year. Boeing, said the joint statement, “urged the two companies to explore the joint program.”
No wonder. GE had been struggling to improve the operability of the GE90, which had become an expensive development program that was well over budget. Boeing too was financially tied and was by now in the thick of certification efforts on three separate and expensive flight-test programs for the GE–, P&W–, and Rolls-Royce–powered 777, and had itself been attempting to explore the joint VLCT initiative with the Airbus partners. Boeing figured the market for the new 747 was likely to be too small to cope with the complications and costs of another three-way engine fight, and the cut-and-thrust had already begun with GE offering a CF6-80X, P&W offering a modular powerplant based on the PW4000, and Rolls-Royce offering either a modified Trent 700 or a de-rated Trent 800.