CFM International has achieved another major milestone for the CFM56 engine family, producing the 30,000th CFM56 engine earlier this month.

In the 35 years since the first engines were produced, CFM has delivered more than 9,860 CFM56-5 engines to Airbus for the A320ceo and A340-200/-300 product lines and more than 17,300 CFM56-3/-7B engines for the Boeing Classic and Next-Generation 737 families.

CFM continues to maintain the highest production rate in the industry. 2016 is the peak year for the ubiquitous CFM56 family; the company plans to produce 1,700 engines this year.

“The history of the CFM56 family has simply been incredible,” said Jean-Paul Ebanga, president and CEO of CFM International. “In 1979, the entire CFM joint venture was two weeks away from being dissolved because the company had not received a single order in five years. That April, though, Delta Airlines, United Airlines, and Flying Tigers chose the CFM56-2 to re-engine DC-8 aircraft. Shortly thereafter, the U.S. Air Force - still our biggest customer - chose to re-engine its KC-135 tanker fleet and the program was saved.

“From that very shaky start, the CFM56 family has grown to be the best-selling engine in commercial aviation history. Not only is it the most produced engine, though, it has also proven to be the most reliable, as well as providing our customers with the lowest overall cost of operation in the industry; it is literally the gold stand for engines in this thrust class. This is a very proud day for all of us at CFM.”

CFM56 engines power the Airbus A318/A319/A320/A321, A318 Elite, A319CJ/ A320CJ/A321CJ corporate jets, and A340-200/-300 models, in addition to the Boeing Classic 737-300/-400/-500, and Next-Generation 737-600/-700/-800/-900/-900ER and BBJ airplanes.