MTU and JAEC: The Partners Who Carry 49%Narrow moat

RTX (RTX) — moat facet

Pratt & Whitney's partners carried about $2.5 billion of the powder-metal recall and in return keep almost half of every GTF dollar.

Pratt & Whitney does not own its commercial engines alone. The V2500 is sold through International Aero Engines, where it holds a 61% program share alongside MTU Aero Engines and Japanese Aero Engines Corporation, and the GTF for the A320neo through IAE LLC, where it holds 59%1. After sub-collaborators its net share is 57% and 51%2.

Powder-metal charge, Q3 2023 ($bn)5.4Net sales reduction2.5Partners share, cost of sales2.9RTX operating profit chargeRTX Form 10-K FY2025, Powder Metal Matter
The partners took almost half.

That makes the partners both allies and a limit. They share the investment and the risk. When the powder-metal charge came, RTX recorded a $5.4 billion reduction in net sales but only a $2.9 billion operating profit charge at Pratt & Whitney's net 51% program share, with a $2.5 billion reduction in cost of sales reflecting the partners' share3. The partners absorbed almost half of the bill.

They also take almost half of the reward. Every GTF shop visit on the A320neo is shared, and so is every dollar of aftermarket the fleet produces over twenty-five years.

This is a different kind of relationship from GE's. MTU and JAEC are not selling a rival engine to the same airline; they are inside RTX's own engine, with their own shareholders and their own views on pricing and investment.

The partnership is also a source of capacity. Shop visits on GTF engines can be carried out across a network of 21 facilities4, and the partners' involvement spreads the investment needed to clear the recall backlog. Pratt & Whitney leads, but it does not carry the fleet alone.

The arrangement is steady rather than changing. It would matter if a partner reduced its share or if RTX bought out a partner's stake. Pratt & Whitney's GTF maintenance output, which the partners share in, rose more than 40% in the second quarter of 20265; that is the number that turns their shares into money.

Moat trajectory: Holding steady

Program shares unchanged.

The number that tests this moat
Reported
PW1100 maintenance output growth, latest quarter
More than 40% year on year (Q2 2026)

The shared aftermarket in motion; falling output with aircraft still grounded would mean the fleet plan is slipping.

Source: RTX Q2 2026 earnings call transcript ↗
References
  1. ReportedThe V2500 is sold through International Aero Engines, where it holds a 61% program share alongside MTU Aero Engines and Japanese Aero Engines Corporation, and the GTF for the A320neo through IAE LLC, where it holds 59%.
    RTX Form 10-K for fiscal 2025 - Item 1 business: the three segments and their products, the GTF family powering more than 2,600 aircraft for over 90 operators, the F135 as sole-source engine on all F-35 variants, GTF Advantage certification, the IAE collaboration shares, employees (about 180,000 in 52 countries, 69% in the U.S.) and the divested businesses. — FY2025 · publ. 6 February 2026 · source ↗
  2. ReportedAfter sub-collaborators its net share is 57% and 51%.
    RTX Form 10-K for fiscal 2025 - Item 1 business: the three segments and their products, the GTF family powering more than 2,600 aircraft for over 90 operators, the F135 as sole-source engine on all F-35 variants, GTF Advantage certification, the IAE collaboration shares, employees (about 180,000 in 52 countries, 69% in the U.S.) and the divested businesses. — FY2025 · publ. 6 February 2026 · source ↗
  3. ReportedWhen the powder-metal charge came, RTX recorded a $5.4 billion reduction in net sales but only a $2.9 billion operating profit charge at Pratt & Whitney's net 51% program share, with a $2.5 billion reduction in cost of sales reflecting the partners' share.
    RTX Form 10-K for fiscal 2025 - the Powder Metal Matter: the July 2023 finding, the third-quarter 2023 charge ($5.4 billion of net sales, $2.9 billion of operating profit at Pratt & Whitney's net 51% program share, partners' 49% share), customer-compensation accruals of $1.7 billion at the end of 2024 and $0.7 billion at the end of 2025, $1.0 billion used in each of 2024 and 2025, and elevated aircraft on ground levels through the end of 2026. — FY2023-FY2025 · publ. 6 February 2026 · source ↗
  4. ReportedShop visits on GTF engines can be carried out across a network of 21 facilities, and the partners' involvement spreads the investment needed to clear the recall backlog.
    RTX Form 10-K for fiscal 2025 - Item 1 business: the three segments and their products, the GTF family powering more than 2,600 aircraft for over 90 operators, the F135 as sole-source engine on all F-35 variants, GTF Advantage certification, the IAE collaboration shares, employees (about 180,000 in 52 countries, 69% in the U.S.) and the divested businesses. — FY2025 · publ. 6 February 2026 · source ↗
  5. ReportedPratt & Whitney's GTF maintenance output, which the partners share in, rose more than 40% in the second quarter of 2026; that is the number that turns their shares into money.
    RTX second-quarter 2026 earnings call transcript (The Motley Fool) - Raytheon bookings and book-to-bill, GTF aircraft-on-ground and MRO output, munitions output, framework agreements, the defence budget request, GTF Advantage, Collins margin plans and segment outlook - commercial: GTF fleet, maintenance output, aftermarket, orders, Collins and the outlook. — Q2 2026 · publ. 24 July 2026 · source ↗
Sources
Generated September 28, 2026