Safran: The Partner That Owns Half the Best AssetWide moat

GE Aerospace (GE) — moat facet

Fifty-two years, two record-selling engines, and the closest partnership and sharpest competition in the industry are the same relationship.

Safran is the most important company to GE Aerospace's future that GE Aerospace does not control.

Who contributes what to a CFM engineGE Aerospace: the core, where the spare-parts margin sitsSafran: the low-pressure system and transmissionCFM International: 50-50, non-consolidated, since 1974Result: LEAP exclusive on the 737 MAX, 55%+ of the A320neoEquity method and related segment income was $677m in 2025, from $484m in 2023.
The closest partnership and the sharpest competition in the industry are the same relationship.

CFM International is a fifty-fifty non-consolidated joint venture with Safran Aircraft Engines, a subsidiary of Safran Group of France1. It has existed since 1974. It produced the CFM56, currently the industry's largest fleet, and the LEAP, which is expected in coming years to overtake it2. The LEAP is the exclusive powerplant on the Boeing 737 MAX and holds more than fifty-five per cent of the Airbus A320neo family3.

The division of labour is the reason it works. GE Aerospace contributes the core — the high-pressure compressor, combustor and high-pressure turbine, which is where the hardest engineering and the richest spare-parts economics are. Safran contributes the low-pressure system, the transmission and substantial manufacturing capacity. Neither could economically build the engine alone, and each has a claim on the aftermarket of the part it makes.

The relationship is therefore simultaneously the closest partnership and the sharpest competition in the industry. The partners cooperate on the programme and compete, in effect, for the value inside it — and that competition is invisible from outside because the venture's accounts are not consolidated into either.

What makes the arrangement stable is that neither side can replace the other quickly. A new core takes a decade; so does a new low-pressure system. Fifty-two years of joint success is the strongest available evidence that both will keep choosing it.

The measure, such as it is, sits in a small line: equity method income and related items inside the Commercial Engines & Services segment were a credit of $677 million in 2025 against $484 million in 20234. It is growing. It is also the only window an outside investor gets onto half of GE Aerospace's largest franchise.

Moat trajectory: Holding steady

Fifty-two years of joint success, two record-selling engines, and an arrangement neither party can replace quickly. The next narrowbody decision will test it; nothing currently visible suggests strain.

The number that tests this moat
Reported
Commercial equipment revenue growth, latest quarter
+30%, on unit volume +26%

GE and Safran each earn on the LEAP engines they deliver together. Equipment revenue rising with volume shows the partnership's output growing; the split of value inside it is not disclosed.

Source: GE Aerospace Q2 2026 earnings release ↗
References
  1. ReportedCFM International is a fifty-fifty non-consolidated joint venture with Safran Aircraft Engines, a subsidiary of Safran Group of France.
    GE Aerospace Form 10-K, FY2025 - Item 1 Business — segment descriptions for Commercial Engines & Services and Defense & Propulsion Technologies, the CFM International 50-50 non-consolidated joint venture with Safran Aircraft Engines, the commercial engine platforms (LEAP, CFM56, GEnx, GE9X, CF6, GE90), the defence platforms (F110, F404, F414, T408, T700, T901, LM2500), the Propulsion & Additive Technologies brands, the CFM RISE programme, the customer description including airframers and sole-source positions, and the segment revenue and services shares. — FY2025 · publ. January 2026 · source ↗
  2. ReportedIt produced the CFM56, currently the industry's largest fleet, and the LEAP, which is expected in coming years to overtake it.
    GE Aerospace Form 10-K, FY2025 - Item 1 Business — segment descriptions for Commercial Engines & Services and Defense & Propulsion Technologies, the CFM International 50-50 non-consolidated joint venture with Safran Aircraft Engines, the commercial engine platforms (LEAP, CFM56, GEnx, GE9X, CF6, GE90), the defence platforms (F110, F404, F414, T408, T700, T901, LM2500), the Propulsion & Additive Technologies brands, the CFM RISE programme, the customer description including airframers and sole-source positions, and the segment revenue and services shares. — FY2025 · publ. January 2026 · source ↗
  3. Third-party estimateThe LEAP is the exclusive powerplant on the Boeing 737 MAX and holds more than fifty-five per cent of the Airbus A320neo family.
    Aviation and market coverage of GE Aerospace's narrowbody position and delivery ramp - the LEAP as the exclusive powerplant on the Boeing 737 MAX and holding more than 55% of the Airbus A320neo family through the CFM joint venture, the target of about 2,000 LEAP deliveries in 2026, first-half deliveries up 41%, and CFM RISE described as a technology demonstrator rather than a product for sale. — 2026 · publ. August 2026 · source ↗
  4. ReportedThe measure, such as it is, sits in a small line: equity method income and related items inside the Commercial Engines & Services segment were a credit of $677 million in 2025 against $484 million in 2023.
    GE Aerospace Form 10-K, FY2025 - notes to the consolidated financial statements — the segment note including segment expenses, segment profit and other segment income; contract assets, contract liabilities and long-term service agreement balances; the remaining performance obligation note with its expected recognition schedule; goodwill and intangible assets; and the geographic revenue table. — FY2025 · publ. January 2026 · source ↗
Sources
Generated September 23, 2026