Eighty Thousand EnginesWide moat

GE Aerospace (GE) — moat facet

Eighty thousand engines is an asset assembled over sixty years that cannot be bought, only outlived.

The asset that produces GE Aerospace's profit does not appear on its balance sheet. It is approximately 50,000 commercial and 30,000 military engines in service and in storage around the world, and the company states plainly that this base supports an aftermarket representing about seventy per cent of revenue1.

Sales of services ($m)$18,345m2022$22,641m2023$24,847m2024$30,163m2025GE Aerospace Forms 10-K FY2024 and FY2025, statement of operations
What the installed base bills: services revenue up 64% in three years, and commercial services up 32% in H1 2026.

An installed base is the purest form of an advantage that cannot be purchased. A competitor can hire the engineers, build the factory and fund the certification. It cannot retroactively have sold 80,000 engines over the preceding sixty years, and it cannot persuade the airlines flying them to take them off the wing.

The base is also unusually young and unusually concentrated. The LEAP entered service in 2016, is in a significant production ramp, and is expected in coming years to overtake the mature CFM56 as the industry's largest fleet2. That matters because an engine's aftermarket does not begin at delivery — it begins at the first shop visit, several years later. A large share of the engines GE Aerospace has already sold have not yet generated a dollar of overhaul revenue.

What is contracted is enormous and slow. Remaining performance obligation for services was $163,029 million at the end of 2025, rising to $178,705 million by June 20263, and the run-off schedule releases twelve per cent within a year, forty-two within five, sixty-nine within ten and eighty-six within fifteen4. Roughly a seventh of it arrives after 2041.

The widebody side of the base is at a different point in its life. CF6 and GE90 are mature, GEnx entered service in 2011, and the GE9X is only now entering service on the Boeing 777X5 — which is why the June 2026 commercial margin fell partly on GE9X install engine growth6.

The facet is rated wide and its trajectory is widening, because the base is growing faster than it retires: 2,386 commercial engines delivered in 2025 against 1,911 the year before7.

It all comes back to the shop visit. Internal shop visit revenue grew 24% in 2025, 19% in 2024 and 27% in 20238, and 30% in the first half of 20269. That is the installed base converting into cash, and it is the single series that decides whether this facet is worth what the market pays for it.

Moat trajectory: Widening

The base is compounding. Commercial engine deliveries rose twenty-five per cent in 2025 and total deliveries thirty-one per cent in the first half of 2026, while internal shop visit revenue grew twenty-four and thirty per cent. Services remaining performance obligation went from $163,029 million to $178,705 million in six months. Every one of those engines is a claim on the 2040s.

The number that tests this moat
Reported
Commercial Engines & Services services revenue growth, first half
+32% in H1 2026

The installed base is only worth what it bills; services growth slowing toward engine-delivery growth would mean the fleet is being serviced elsewhere or flying less.

Source: GE Aerospace second-quarter 2026 earnings release ↗
Aspects of the moat
DIG DEEPER 01
Fifty Thousand Commercial, Thirty Thousand Military
Share has to be re-won; an installed base does not. Winning next year's orders decides the aftermarket of the 2040s.
DIG DEEPER 02
The LEAP Fleet That Has Not Been Serviced Yet
Thousands of engines delivered at a loss since 2016, most of which have never seen a shop.
DIG DEEPER 03
A Hundred and Sixty-Three Billion, Twelve Per Cent of It Next Year
A backlog disclosed with its calendar: a seventh of the services obligation arrives after 2041.
DIG DEEPER 04
Sole Source, and What It Is Worth
On some aircraft the airline chooses an engine. On others there is only one, and that is worth far more.
⚠ Threats to the moat
⚠ THREAT 01
Seventy Per Cent of Revenue Depends on Somebody Else Flying
Seventy per cent of the revenue is triggered by an event GE Aerospace does not schedule.
⚠ THREAT 02
Supply, Not Demand, Has Been the Constraint
For four years the constraint has been getting parts, not finding customers.
References
  1. ReportedIt is approximately 50,000 commercial and 30,000 military engines in service and in storage around the world, and the company states plainly that this base supports an aftermarket representing about seventy per cent of revenue.
    GE Aerospace Form 10-K, FY2025 - Item 1 general and Item 2 Properties — the installed base of approximately 50,000 commercial and 30,000 military engines and the statement that it supports an aftermarket representing approximately 70% of revenue, the FLIGHT DECK operating model, customers in approximately 120 countries, the facility count, human capital and employee numbers, the intellectual property discussion, the research and development table splitting company-funded from customer- and partner-funded spending, and the engine testing milestones. — FY2025 · publ. January 2026 · source ↗
  2. ReportedThe LEAP entered service in 2016, is in a significant production ramp, and is expected in coming years to overtake the mature CFM56 as the industry's largest fleet.
    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. ReportedRemaining performance obligation for services was $163,029 million at the end of 2025, rising to $178,705 million by June 2026, and the run-off schedule releases twelve per cent within a year, forty-two within five, sixty-nine within ten and eighty-six within fifteen.
    GE Aerospace Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2026, Management's Discussion and Analysis — consolidated revenue, profit and earnings per share, the segment results for Commercial Engines & Services and Defense & Propulsion Technologies, commercial engine and LEAP unit deliveries, internal shop visit revenue growth, the remaining performance obligation and its equipment and services split, the supply chain, tariff and Middle East discussions, and the planned $1 billion US manufacturing investment and 5,000 US hires. — Q2 2026 · publ. July 2026 · source ↗
  4. ReportedRemaining performance obligation for services was $163,029 million at the end of 2025, rising to $178,705 million by June 2026, and the run-off schedule releases twelve per cent within a year, forty-two within five, sixty-nine within ten and eighty-six within fifteen.
    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 ↗
  5. ReportedCF6 and GE90 are mature, GEnx entered service in 2011, and the GE9X is only now entering service on the Boeing 777X — which is why the June 2026 commercial margin fell partly on GE9X install engine growth.
    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 ↗
  6. ReportedCF6 and GE90 are mature, GEnx entered service in 2011, and the GE9X is only now entering service on the Boeing 777X — which is why the June 2026 commercial margin fell partly on GE9X install engine growth.
    GE Aerospace second-quarter 2026 earnings release (Exhibit 99.1 to Form 8-K of July 16, 2026) — total company GAAP and non-GAAP results, segment revenue, orders and operating profit, free cash flow, the raised full-year 2026 guidance for adjusted revenue growth, operating profit, adjusted earnings per share and free cash flow, the LEAP-1B durability kit certification, the XA102 and GE426 defence programmes, the NASA hybrid-electric ground tests, and the chief executive's commentary. — Q2 2026 · publ. 16 July 2026 · source ↗
  7. ReportedThe facet is rated wide and its trajectory is widening, because the base is growing faster than it retires: 2,386 commercial engines delivered in 2025 against 1,911 the year before.
    GE Aerospace Form 10-K, FY2025 - Segment Operations — Commercial Engines & Services: segment revenue, profit and margin, commercial engine and LEAP unit deliveries, internal shop visit revenue growth, the CES remaining performance obligation, the 2025 engine commitments from Qatar Airways, Emirates, International Airlines Group, ANA Holdings, Malaysia Aviation Group, Korean Air, Cathay Pacific and Pegasus, and commercial departures growth. — FY2025 · publ. January 2026 · source ↗
  8. ReportedInternal shop visit revenue grew 24% in 2025, 19% in 2024 and 27% in 2023, and 30% in the first half of 2026.
    GE Aerospace Form 10-K, FY2025 - Segment Operations — Commercial Engines & Services: segment revenue, profit and margin, commercial engine and LEAP unit deliveries, internal shop visit revenue growth, the CES remaining performance obligation, the 2025 engine commitments from Qatar Airways, Emirates, International Airlines Group, ANA Holdings, Malaysia Aviation Group, Korean Air, Cathay Pacific and Pegasus, and commercial departures growth. — FY2025 · publ. January 2026 · source ↗
  9. ReportedInternal shop visit revenue grew 24% in 2025, 19% in 2024 and 27% in 2023, and 30% in the first half of 2026.
    GE Aerospace Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2026, Management's Discussion and Analysis — consolidated revenue, profit and earnings per share, the segment results for Commercial Engines & Services and Defense & Propulsion Technologies, commercial engine and LEAP unit deliveries, internal shop visit revenue growth, the remaining performance obligation and its equipment and services split, the supply chain, tariff and Middle East discussions, and the planned $1 billion US manufacturing investment and 5,000 US hires. — Q2 2026 · publ. July 2026 · source ↗
Sources
Generated September 23, 2026