GE Aviation trains 500 engineers and mechanics from China

With hundreds of GE jet engines being delivered to Chinese airlines, Cincinnati-based GE Aviation is training a growing number of technicians from Chinese operators of these dramatically expanding fleets. More than 500 aviation mechanics and propulsion engineers from almost 20 Chinese airlines will be trained on engines made by GE and its joint venture, CFM International. The training takes place GE's Customer Technical Education Center in Cincinnati, and in Guanghan, China. Chinese airlines routinely send a dozen or more technicians at a time to spend at least two weeks at GE's Cincinnati training operation, the company says. "With the GE and CFM engine fleets growing so quickly in China, training is a huge need of our customers and a huge opportunity for us," says Michael Brown, manager of training programs at the Cincinnati site. In 2007 alone, domestic airline traffic grew by 18 percent in China, while international airline traffic grew 11 percent.

Writer: David Holthaus
Source: Rick Kennedy, GE Aviation