Originally Posted by
esscee
Maybe NG and Airbus "took a view" that it was not going to be viable and "let" good ole Boeing to suffer all the grief and hassle that has proven to be the case. As for using very very old engines, makes me wonder if GE decided that they did not wish to support their old design CF6 for many more years to come which left only PW.
Seems highly unlikely. Providing support is a very lucrative part of any engine sale. Indeed, supporting the engine generates much more revenue than selling the engine. Further GE is already committed to providing long term USAF support for CF6s which are on the VC-25, E-4B, KC-10, and C-5M fleets.
Let's face it, they would have only chosen an American built engine after all the
PR "moaning" etc that went on when Boeing did not win in the earlier "contests".
Sorry, but this is false. The RR engine in this thrust range is not a bad engine, but it is a poor match for the airframe. That's why the RR powered KC-767I performed so poorly and why out of 1240 767 ordered, only 40 had RR engines. Almost all of those 767 sales were not USAF sales, so no pressure to "buy American."