On October 15, GE Aerospace announced a new seven-year agreement with AerCap to manage lease pool services for its GE9X engine. The deal also extends AerCap’s support for several other GE engine programs, including the GEnx, GE90, CF6, and CF34. As part of the agreement, AerCap will handle shop visit management, lease return coordination, and other technical and administrative functions tied to engine leasing.
This is a logical step as the GE9X engine approaches entry into commercial service. Designed specifically for the Boeing 777X family, the GE9X is not only the largest commercial turbofan ever built—it also incorporates GE’s latest fuel-efficiency and emissions technologies. But like any new engine platform, having a reliable support structure in place is critical, and lease pool access is a big part of that equation.
Commercial aircraft engines are capital-intensive assets that come with complex maintenance needs. Leasing them allows airlines to reduce upfront costs and gives them flexibility when it comes to managing fleet availability and shop visit schedules. In practical terms, a strong lease pool means an airline can swap in a leased engine when one of its own units is due for service, avoiding unnecessary downtime. For newer engines like the GE9X, which still have limited in-service hours and relatively few spares in circulation, centralized lease pool management becomes even more important.
AerCap already has a significant footprint in GE engine leasing, so this extension makes sense. They’ve built the infrastructure to support the paperwork, logistics, and technical oversight that goes into engine leasing—and with GE ramping up MRO capacity and tooling for the GE9X, the timing lines up. This move helps ensure that GE9X customers won’t be left waiting on engine availability as operations with the 777X scale up.
Overall, this agreement points to the growing role of engine leasing and aftermarket services in the commercial aviation ecosystem. As engines get more complex and expensive, and as airlines look for ways to stay flexible in a volatile environment, lease pool management is moving from a nice-to-have to a core part of engine program strategy.
