GE Jet Engine Installs Drop 45% in Sign of Aviation Collapse

  • Company announces plans for $2 billion in cost-saving measures
  • ‘This is going to be challenging for a good bit,’ Culp says

A GEnx-1B commercial jet engine in a test tunnel at the GE Aviation Test Operations facility in Peebles, Ohio.

Photographer: Luke Sharrett/Bloomberg

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General Electric Co. reported deep strains in its aviation business as the coronavirus pandemic pummeled commercial air travel worldwide.

While the manufacturer had already laid out cost cuts to combat a slowdown, the magnitude of the first-quarter decline was eye-popping. Sales at GE Aviation, long the crown jewel of the manufacturing divisions, fell 13%, the company saidBloomberg Terminal Wednesday. It took well into February for the virus’s effects on global commerce to take hold.