The Big Threat To GE Aviation Isn’t Corporate Breakup — It’s A Resurgent Pratt & Whitney (From Forbes)

When General Electric disclosed what amounts to a corporate breakup on June 26, one of the few businesses it said it wanted to retain was GE Aviation, its aircraft engine unit.  The business certainly seems to be performing well.  Going forward though, GE Aviation will be under increasing pressure from a resurgent Pratt & Whitney.  Pratt’s geared turbofan for narrowbody jetliners is intrinsically more fuel-efficient (not to mention quieter) than GE’s new LEAP engine.  And Pratt has managed to become the sole provider of engines for the Air Force’s next-generation fighters, tankers and bombers.  So GE Aviation’s future might not be quite so rosy as its recent past.  I have written a commentary for Forbes here.