Big PW4000 Turbofan Reaches Fifth Anniversary

Pratt & Whitney's PW4000 turbofan-the most powerful commercial engine available today-marked its fifth anniversary in June this year. When the PW4000 entered service it was the first engine type to be certified on the Boeing 777. A United Airlines 777 flew the first PW4000-powered revenue service from Washington DC to London, on June 7, 1995.

The PW4000/777 combination was the first to be certified for 180-minute ETOPS approval and in May 2000 United's PW4000-powered 777s also became the first to receive 207-minute ETOPS clearance. To date the PW4000 has recorded over 200,000 ETOPS-approved flights, with an overall dispatch reliability of 99.97%.

Today the PW4000 leads the 777 fleet in flight time with 1.6 million hours and over 500,000 flight cycles. There are currently 186 engines in service with eight airlines. The baseline 777 version of the PW4000 was rated at 77,000 lbs thrust, but the growth versions developed for the 777-300 are rated at 98,000 lbs thrust.