Not exactly a surprise, but Bombardier has announced it is working exclusively with Pratt & Whitney to power its CSeries airliner with the Geared Turbofan. The GTF has already been selected to power the Mitsubishi Regional Jet. Neither aircraft has been launched yet, but if they are Pratt will find itself developing two sizes of GTF simultaneously: 17,000-19,000lb thrust for the MRJ and 23,000lb for the CSeries.
And the larger of those two engines is going to look a lot like the engine Pratt would offer for the next generation of Airbus and Boeing singe-aisle airliner. As Pratt continues to say its preferred route to market for the next-gen narrowbody is via International Aero Engines, a GTF launch on the CSeries is going to make for some interesting conversations with its V2500 partners.
And while we have all given Bombardier a hard time for its indecision on the CSeries, the market might just be on its side this time. With more airlines calling for a new generation of narrowbody, an environment-friendly 110- to 130-seater available in 2013 might just attract some buyers unwilling to wait another five years for a new Airbus or Boeing.