GE Aerospace rolls its AI blade inspector out to LEAP shops after halving GEnx inspection time

Feb. 13, 2025 — GE Aerospace said it is rolling out an AI-enabled blade inspection tool to more than a dozen of its own and customers' shops that service CFM LEAP engines, after the same tool cut blade inspection time in half on GEnx engines. Here's what happened, what it cost, and what went wrong.

Cost and outcome (as of Mar. 12, 2026)

Outcome: On GEnx, used for "around three years," the tool "has cut blade inspection times in half while improving the accuracy of inspections compared to standard borescope inspections," GE said. (GE Aerospace, Feb. 13, 2025)
Cost: GE gave no cost for the tool. It said in 2024 it is investing "more than $1 billion in its MRO shops during the next five years." (GE Aerospace, Feb. 13, 2025)
Scale: "More than a dozen GE Aerospace MRO facilities and customers who also service the CFM LEAP engine are receiving the AI-enabled tool." (GE Aerospace, Feb. 13, 2025)

How it works

"Trained technicians use the AI-enabled Blade Inspection Tool to take images of turbine blades that are responsible for producing much of the engine's thrust. AI then guides technicians on the selection of which images to review," GE said. (GE Aerospace, Feb. 13, 2025)

GE said that gives "more consistency to spot issues sooner while cutting inspection times in half." Military Aerospace, Feb. 17, 2025 reported the same description. (GE Aerospace, Feb. 13, 2025)

"More consistent and accurate inspections will help keep these blades healthy and the engine reliable," said Nicole Jenkins, GE Aerospace's chief maintenance repair and overhaul engineer. "AI, used the right way, is proving to be a powerful tool in our work." (GE Aerospace, Feb. 13, 2025)

Why inspection time matters

GE said the deployment aims at "helping return engines to service sooner amid continued air travel demand." (GE Aerospace, Feb. 13, 2025)

GE said its AI-use guidelines stress "human oversight, data integrity and transparency," and that it has been integrating AI across operations for more than a decade and is "one of the top AI patent holders in the aviation industry." (GE Aerospace, Feb. 13, 2025)

Its employees use AI "from engine monitoring and part inspections to delivering insights that enable predictive maintenance measures," GE said. At the time of the release, GE described itself as having an installed base of about 45,000 commercial and 25,000 military aircraft engines and about 53,000 employees. CFM International, which makes the LEAP, is a 50-50 company of GE Aerospace and Safran Aircraft Engines. (GE Aerospace, Feb. 13, 2025)

A year on

In its 2025 shareholder letter, GE said the tool, developed at the GE Aerospace Research Center, "is facilitating the inspection of critical stage 1 blades to be done in half the time with improved accuracy." (GE Aerospace 2025 annual report letter, geaerospace.com)

It also described a second tool built from inspection data: an AI-based material assistant that predicts a LEAP engine's shop-visit workscope nine months in advance so parts can be ordered earlier. GE said it deployed it at its Celma, Brazil, and Malaysia shops in 2025 and was "already seeing five-to-seven-day reductions in turnaround time." (GE Aerospace 2025 annual report letter, geaerospace.com)

GE also said it is "leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance our aftermarket capabilities and accelerate turnaround times," and that in 2026 it expects AI to be "an accelerator for FLIGHT DECK," its lean system. (GE Aerospace 2025 annual report letter, geaerospace.com)

What went wrong

Manual image review was slow and uneven. GE frames the tool as fixing consistency: AI guides "which images to review." (GE Aerospace, Feb. 13, 2025)
LEAP results not yet shown. The halving figure is from GEnx; the LEAP rollout was just starting. (GE Aerospace, Feb. 13, 2025)
No independent data. Military Aerospace, Feb. 17, 2025 restated GE's release without new figures.
Two versions of the letter. The letter on GE's website says the workscope tool cut turnaround by "five-to-seven" days and that stage 1 inspection is done "in half the time with improved accuracy"; the version GE filed with the SEC on Mar. 12, 2026 says "more than five-day reductions" and omits "with improved accuracy." (GE Aerospace 2025 annual report letter)
What we don't know yet: LEAP inspection times after rollout, and accuracy data against borescope inspections.

Our follow-up question for GE Aerospace

What have LEAP blade inspection times and miss rates been since the rollout, compared with standard borescope inspection?

Sources

GE Aerospace, “GE Aerospace Deploys AI-Driven Inspection Tool to Maximize Narrowbody Engine Time on Wing,” Feb. 13, 2025. geaerospace.com
Military Aerospace, “GE Aerospace deploys AI-enabled inspection tool for commercial aircraft,” Feb. 17, 2025. militaryaerospace.com
GE Aerospace, 2025 Annual Report, shareholder letter (filed with SEC Mar. 12, 2026). geaerospace.com

Disclosure: [not in copy] Editor placeholder