GE Aviation announced that five years after the foundation of the project, an additional $ 105 million will be invested in a ceramic matrix composite (CMC) plant in Asheville, North Carolina to meet growing market demand.
As part of the investment, GE Aviation will add 131 jobs at the Asheville plant, a significant increase from the current labor force of 425. GE Aviation will also add 15 jobs to its West Jefferson facility to supplement the shortage of more than 270 existing labor.
Asheville Plant Director Michael Meguiar said, "We will continue to strengthen our work on labor, corporate culture, and community building to create more jobs for advanced manufacturing in western North Carolina. As we win GE9X and CFM Our factory will continue to grow and produce orders for next-generation engine components such as LEAP. Our team is capable of demonstrating technological advancement and continued competitiveness, and I am proud of it. "
Local government official Roy Cooper said, "North Carolina warmly welcomes innovation and entrepreneurs to enter the state to drive the continuous development of the economy. For a long time, GE Aviation and its North Carolina employees have achieved many achievements. This expansion will provide More job opportunities will create conditions for the next generation of innovative products in the aviation industry. "
GE Aviation has more than 80 production plants in 19 countries and employs more than 27,000 people. The plants in Asheville and West Jefferson are part of the company's global supply chain. GE Aviation also operates a component manufacturing plant in Wilmington and an engine assembly plant in Durham, UK. Currently, GE Aviation employs more than 1,700 people in North Carolina, and Asheville, a ceramic-based composites plant that opened in 2014, is the company's first plant for the large-scale production of ceramic-based composite parts for aircraft engines.
In the next ten years, driven by the increasing productivity of aircraft engines, the market demand for ceramic-based composite materials is expected to grow tenfold. Each LEAP engine produced by CFM International (a 50:50 joint venture between GE and Safran France) is equipped with 18 ceramic-based composite turbine guide vanes, which are used in high-pressure turbine engines to guide Flow fixed components are used to ensure the efficiency of the turbine blades. The production pace of LEAP engines is constantly accelerating, and the current order volume exceeds 14,270 units. Ceramic-based composites are also used in the combustion chambers and high-pressure turbine sections of GE9X engines on Boeing's 777X dual-aisle aircraft. Currently orders for GE9X engines are close to 700.
The North Carolina Department of Commerce and the Office of Economic Development Cooperation provided assistance for this expansion. Other major participants in the project include the North Carolina State Legislature, State Community College, Buncombe County, Ashe County, Asheville City, Ashe County Economic Services, and more.