Rolls-Royce in talks with Boeing to build a new plane

Slowdown: Rolls-Royce is paid for the number of hours its jet engines fly

Rolls-Royce is in talks with Boeing to build a new plane as it battles to survive the Covid crisis.

The British engineering giant would provide the engines for a mid-sized aircraft Boeing is considering.

Rolls is paid for the number of hours its jet engines fly – meaning a large portion of its revenues were wiped out when the pandemic hit and global air travel ground to a halt. 

Working on the project would give Rolls an edge, as it currently only supplies engines for large aircraft.

Rapid advances in technology mean that smaller planes can increasingly fly long-haul routes, meaning jumbo planes will be needed far less in the coming years.

Rolls boss Warren East confirmed the talks yesterday as the firm said its engines spent 60 per cent less time in the air during the first four months of 2021 than in the same period of 2019, before the pandemic hit. 

East said: ‘We faced unprecedented challenges in 2020 with events that were beyond our control.’