As Rolls-Royce undergoes its transformation the team manufacturing the Trent XWB-84 engines that power the Airbus A350-900 are on a high. The latest variant known as the EP – enhanced performance has completed a year on wing with customers. In this mini-documentary, Alan Peaford goes behind the doors at the UK company to find out the results.
32 Comments
This was a LITERAL ADVERT for Rolls.
Aviation Week is an Excellent source for anything aviation, but this interview lacked even the Slightest appearance of journalism.
A Real “interview” would have included a discussion about reliability that turned Emirates away from a Huge A350 order in concert with nearly 70% of Boeing 787 customers opting for the GE engines in lieu of the Rolls.
I have no opinion on either engine but this was just poor.
Poor old RR. What about the airlines with aircraft grounded for years? I sat through a RR presentation on how they’d determined the number of safe cycles to avoid blade failure ; they were wrong. My airline had failures before this number. This is something of a puff piece for RR.
Less noise? Premium cabin on the A350 is louder than 787 equivalent due to buzzsaw. RR needs to implement carbon fiber fan blades.
6.20 try telling that to United's CEO
repetitive narrative, no facts, no analysis ….. poor
When will you show the guys who make the parts?
Its always the Meccano assembly team never the mechanical engineers that make the parts that are seen.
The proof of the pudding would be Emirates ordering a quantity of 350's, then it would show enough time on wing and hardening against desert environment had been achieved rather than just tame rinsing interview!
Poor reporting, what do the customer's think?
Well that was a wasted ten minutes. A percent here, a decibel there, okay, that's good. But I have no idea from this promotional vid how that was accomplished. Different blades? Redesigned housing? Hotter core temps? Aviation Week shouid have the expertise to fill in those blanks instead of just making a marketing vid.
OMG, when did Aviation Week turn into an advertising mouthpiece ?
This was pretty poor, and AW needs to wipe the brown off their nose.
Feels like RollsRoyce or the UK government paid for this infomercial 😂
They look so good, I’m going to buy one.
Excellent piece of reporting and a really insightful view into Rolls Royce. Thank you.
Amazing ❤❤❤
What would it do if it had to compete with a second option on the A350 ?
Rolls-Royce has been paying performance and maintenance penalties to Emirates for years due to the Trent 900 engines on its A380s failing to meet contracted efficiency and durability standards.
As of early 2026, the GE GEnx-1B high-pressure turbine (HPT) blades significantly outperform the Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 XE in cycle life, particularly in challenging environments. GE's established blade design remains the industry benchmark for durability.
HPT Blade Cycle Comparison (2026 Data)
Engine Variant Typical Environment (Cycles) Harsh/Hot Environment (Cycles)
GE GEnx-1B (Latest) ~6,000+ 4,000+
Trent 1000 XE (Phase 2) ~3,200+ ~2,000
Trent 1000 TEN (Failed) ~1,000 < 500
Key Differences in Durability.
Time-on-Wing Superiority: The GE GEnx-1B currently offers three times higher time-on-wing than the older Trent 1000 TEN it competed against.
Even with the latest XE upgrade, February 2026 data indicates that GE will maintain a significant lead in total cycles between major overhauls.
Material Science: GE’s advantage is driven by its use of advanced coatings and "unshrouded" blade architecture, which reduces weight and thermal stress.
Maintenance Intervals: Current GE configurations are projected to reach 8 years before their first major shop visit in neutral environments, compared to the roughly 5 years targeted by the newest Rolls-Royce XE standard.
Great Britain shall Prevail 🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧
The XWB-97 has 4k-8k hrs time on wing, GE90-115 has 20k-30k hrs time on wing..
Lets not forget RR RB211's routinely did 40k-50k hrs time on wing..
I'd say you have a lot more work to do.
Well that doesn't sound like a scripted marketing and promotion campaign by RR at all…
Never forget that this is the company that kept secret the faulty oil pumps on the A380 engine, and prioritized sales over safety and in the process went within a whisker of killing a plane load of passengers in 2010 on QF32. A company who has such ethics should never be trusted ever again.
RR you were the first amongst others. Step up again and do the best. Xwb 84 has been overall very good. Time to make superior new gens such as the former RB211 s that were very good by standards
They mention the founders of Rolls Royce and about quality, don't ever mention Frank Whittle, without him there would be no Rolls Royce as his company was nationalised stopping his research and his engine given to Rolls Royce and to the Americans. He also designed the high bypass fan used in all commercial jets in 1936 whcih was ignored for decades before people realised it was going to go that way. He was shut out of Rolls Royce, they said he was difficult, but that was mainly over him wanting exacting standards of high precision (something lacking in Rolls Royce hence Merlin Engines being better made by Packard in USA in the 1940s).
Brit here. We're proud of you guys.
Do we really need the 1970s porn movie soundtrack?
We already placed our order.
Love RR
you have name of channel in one corner
why are you posting name again in oposite corner?
such repeat actions are fucking annoying
Genuinely proud of Derby and their efforts, it's not that common nowadays that a British manufacturer competes with the world's best but these fellas absolutely do.
Thank you for the video on the Rolls Royce advancement on aircraft engines. The next frontier is not fossil fuel engines but electric as that technology research is displaying in the US !
Yes, I agree – you are truly wonderful!