China Eastern Airlines (MU) has selected CFM International LEAP-1A engines for 101 new Airbus A320neo family aircraft, a mix of A320neo, A321neo and A321XLR models. The agreement, signed on November 6, 2026, at the 9th China International Import Expo (CIIE) in Shanghai, also covers spare engines and a long-term services agreement.

CFM International announced the selection in a press release dated November 6, 2026. The release is the engine maker’s own account of an agreement first reported in AirPro News coverage of GE Aerospace’s record signings at the expo, and it adds the aircraft models involved, the size of China Eastern’s existing CFM-powered fleet and the history of the relationship. CFM did not disclose the value of the agreement, the number of engines it covers or a delivery schedule.

What the airline and the engine maker said

Xiaoqun He, executive vice president at China Eastern Airlines, said: “CFM LEAP engines are helping us build one of the most modern fleets in the industry.” He said the airline was pleased to strengthen the relationship, and that an airline’s success depends on engine reliability, fuel efficiency, and support and services, which in his view makes CFM a natural partner.

Weiming Xiang, president of CFM Greater China, said the agreement extends a relationship of more than four decades. He said CFM is committed to “the highest standards of reliability, efficiency, and utilization.”

A fleet already built on CFM engines

The new order adds to a fleet that already runs on CFM engines across several aircraft families. According to CFM, China Eastern operates 215 A320neo and A321neo aircraft with LEAP-1A engines, Boeing 737 MAX aircraft with LEAP-1B engines and COMAC C919 aircraft with LEAP-1C engines. The airline also operates more than 380 aircraft with CFM56 engines, including Airbus A320ceo and Boeing 737NG models.

The company profile in the release describes China Eastern, headquartered in Shanghai, as one of three major state-owned Chinese airlines, operating more than 820 aircraft in what it calls one of the youngest fleets in the world. As a SkyTeam member, the airline serves nearly 1,000 destinations in more than 100 countries and regions and carries more than 150 million passengers a year, according to the same profile. The AirPro Atlas lists the SkyTeam carrier with five hubs.

Four decades of CFM engines at China Eastern

China Eastern was CFM’s first customer in mainland China. The relationship dates to 1985, when China Eastern Yunnan took delivery of its first Boeing 737-300, powered by CFM56-3C engines, according to CFM.

GE Aerospace gave figures for the wider GE and CFM engine base in China at the previous edition of the expo. In a release dated November 6, 2025, from the 8th CIIE, it said that it and CFM served more than 60 Chinese airline customers, with more than 7,800 engines in service and nearly 5,000 on order. At that expo, China Eastern signed a purchase agreement for 39 spare engines covering the LEAP-1A, LEAP-1C and CFM56-7B, according to the same release, which describes the LEAP-1C as the only designated foreign engine for the COMAC C919 fleet.

CFM International is a 50/50 joint venture between GE Aerospace and Safran Aircraft Engines, founded in 1974. It describes itself as the world’s leading commercial aircraft engine supplier. Beyond producing the LEAP family, it supports the LEAP and CFM56 fleets in service, and its RISE program develops new propulsion technologies.

Where the LEAP program stands

The agreement comes ten years after the LEAP entered service. CFM said it has delivered more than 10,000 LEAP engines, which have accumulated more than 100 million flight hours.

CFM is upgrading the LEAP fleet with a high-pressure turbine (HPT) durability kit intended to extend time on wing, and a reverse bleed system (RBS) intended to reduce the maintenance burden on airlines. The company said its aims are high engine availability, strong maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) performance, a competitive cost of ownership and aftermarket competition through an open MRO ecosystem. In Greater China, GE Aerospace said in its 2025 release that a network of eight partner or licensed MRO shops, two engine component storefronts and one on-site quick-turn shop covered all GE and CFM engine models used in China. Its Shanghai Lingang quick-turn shop and SSAMC, a joint venture with Air China, both offered domestic LEAP-1C quick-turn capability, and AirPro News has covered SSAMC’s LEAP maintenance work in China.

This is original reporting and analysis by AirPro News.

In July 2026, 69.4% of the 631,678 arrivals reported at US airports were on time, according to the on-time figures in the AirPro Atlas for domestic flights of reporting US airlines.

The gap between the best and worst airports was wide. Kahului International Airport (OGG), Lihue Airport (LIH) and Ellison Onizuka Kona International Airport at Keāhole (KOA) each posted 83.1%, while Orlando Sanford International Airport (SFB) finished last of the 99 ranked airports at 51.5%.

Among airlines, Envoy Air had the highest share of flights arriving on time, 79.8%, and JetBlue Airways the lowest, 55.7%.

The figures come from the US Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) Reporting Carrier On-Time Performance data. They cover one month, July 2026, and only domestic flights of US airlines that report to the DOT, so they are not a picture of every flight at these airports. A flight counts as on time when it arrives less than 15 minutes after schedule. Cancelled flights count as late, and diverted flights count as late arrivals. The airport ranking includes only the 99 airports with at least 1,000 arrivals in the month.

The most and least punctual airports

Kahului, Lihue and Kona shared the top figure in July 2026, each with 83.1% of arrivals on time. Kahului handled 2,326 arrivals, Lihue 1,485 and Kona 1,415. Cancellations at all of them were low: 13 at Kahului, 8 at Lihue and 7 at Kona.

Salt Lake City International Airport (SLC) came next at 81.2%, and it did so with 10,374 arrivals, far more than any other airport in the top five. Long Beach International Airport (LGB) completed the top five at 78.6% of 1,196 arrivals, with 8 cancelled.

At the other end of the table, Orlando Sanford had the lowest share, 51.5% of 1,026 arrivals, with 4 cancellations. San Francisco International Airport (SFO) was just above it at 51.9% of 13,874 arrivals. Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) recorded 58.1% of 12,115 arrivals, and LaGuardia Airport (LGA) and John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) each recorded 58.6%, on 11,173 and 9,181 arrivals.

How the busiest airports did

All five airports with the most arrivals recorded a higher on-time share than the 69.4% for all reported arrivals. Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD) handled the most, 33,007 arrivals, with 70.1% on time and 1,380 cancellations, the most cancellations among the five.

Denver International Airport (DEN) and Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) both recorded 73.9%, on 29,500 and 28,623 arrivals, with 239 and 344 cancellations. Hartsfield Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL) posted 69.5% of 28,064 arrivals with 679 cancelled. Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) led the group at 74.6% of 17,450 arrivals, with 210 cancelled.

Airlines from best to worst

Envoy Air topped the carrier table, with 79.8% of 29,780 flights arriving on time and 441 cancelled (1.5%). Alaska Airlines followed at 75.9% of 31,682 flights, with 0.8% cancelled, and SkyWest Airlines was third at 74.6% of 77,072 flights. Delta Air Lines, at 71.9% of 94,140 flights, and United Airlines, at 71.5% of 74,440, came next.

Allegiant Air had the lowest cancellation rate in the table, 0.5%, with 68.6% of 13,314 flights on time. Republic Airways recorded 68.1% of 32,082 flights, and Southwest Airlines, which flew the most flights in the table at 124,994, recorded 68.0% with 1.1% cancelled. American Airlines reached 65.0% of 89,200 flights and Frontier Airlines 62.5% of 20,482.

A carrier listed in the data only by its code, OH, recorded 59.1% of 21,472 flights with 6.6% cancelled. JetBlue Airways finished last at 55.7% of 23,312 flights and had the highest cancellation rate in the table, 9.8%, ahead of Republic Airways at 9.3%.

AirPro News analysis

The July 2026 tables show that size alone did not decide punctuality. Salt Lake City reached 81.2% with 10,374 arrivals, while San Francisco, with 13,874 arrivals, sat second from the bottom at 51.9%. Among airlines, SkyWest flew 77,072 flights and still placed third, ahead of Delta Air Lines, American Airlines and Southwest Airlines, each of which flew more flights.

Cancellations shaped the bottom of both tables in different ways. LaGuardia, JFK and Reagan National each logged between 966 and 1,111 cancellations, while San Francisco’s 159 points to late arrivals rather than cancellations as the main drag on its figure. On the airline side, JetBlue and Republic had cancellation rates of 9.8% and 9.3%, against 0.5% for Allegiant and 0.8% for Alaska. Because cancelled flights count as late in this measure, a high cancellation rate weighs directly on the on-time share, yet Republic still finished in the middle of the table at 68.1%.

Readers can explore the airports in this story on the busiest-airports view of the AirPro Atlas.

This article summarizes reporting by Reuters.

GE Aerospace signed sales and service agreements in China worth more than $12.9 billion at the China International Import Expo (CIIE) in Shanghai, Reuters reported on November 6, 2026. Among them is a China Eastern Airlines agreement for 202 LEAP-1A engines to power the 101 Airbus A320neo-family aircraft the carrier has newly ordered.

Reuters described the total as a record signing value for GE Aerospace at the annual expo, which opened its ninth edition in Shanghai on November 5, 2026. The figure stands against the nearly $2.1 billion in agreements GE Aerospace reported from the 2025 edition of the same show, according to the company’s own release from that event. Reuters reported that China Eastern had made no immediate announcement about the agreements.

What GE Aerospace signed in Shanghai

Citing a GE Aerospace statement, Reuters reported that the China Eastern engine agreement also covers spare engines and long-term service support. The engines are for the airline’s order for 101 A320neo-family jets. Reuters did not report a value for the individual agreements or a split between engine sales and services.

A second agreement with China Eastern covers 14 spare engines across three types: the LEAP-1A, the LEAP-1C and the CFM56-7B. The LEAP-1C powers the COMAC C919, and GE Aerospace describes it as the sole designated foreign engine for the C919 fleet.

GE Aerospace also said it reached supply and repair agreements with MTU Maintenance Zhuhai during the expo, according to Reuters, which described the shop as a joint venture between China Southern Air Holding Company Limited and Germany’s MTU Aero Engines. MTU describes MTU Maintenance Zhuhai as a 50/50 joint venture between MTU Aero Engines and China Southern Airlines.

How the 2026 signings compare with the 2025 expo

At the eighth CIIE in November 2025, GE Aerospace said it signed sales and service agreements with several airline customers and partners worth nearly $2.1 billion in total. Xiang Weiming, GE Aerospace global vice president and president of Greater China, said at the time that it was the company’s eighth consecutive year at the expo.

Both counterparts named in the 2026 reporting also signed with GE Aerospace in 2025. China Eastern signed a purchase agreement for 39 spare LEAP-1A, LEAP-1C and CFM56-7B engines, and MTU Maintenance Zhuhai signed a CFM and GE Aerospace aviation materials purchase agreement and an engine component repair agreement. Xiamen Airlines signed a CFM56-7B TrueChoice shop visit agreement at the same event.

The LEAP fleet and its support network in China

The LEAP-1A is built by CFM International, a 50/50 joint venture between GE Aerospace and Safran Aircraft Engines, and powers the Airbus A320neo family. In its 2025 expo release, GE Aerospace said that it and CFM had served more than 60 Chinese airline customers, with more than 7,800 engines in service and nearly 5,000 on order.

CFM said in July 2026 that more than 10,000 LEAP engines had been delivered. It is upgrading the LEAP fleet with a high-pressure turbine (HPT) durability kit to extend time on wing and a reverse bleed system (RBS) to lower airline maintenance burden. That update came in a release on China Aircraft Leasing Group Holdings Limited (CALC) selecting LEAP-1A engines for 20 additional A320neo and A321neo aircraft.

On the maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) side, GE Aerospace said in 2025 that its network in Greater China of eight cooperative or licensed MRO shops, two engine component storefronts and one on-site quick-turn shop covered all GE and CFM engine models used in China. Its Shanghai Lingang quick-turn shop and SSAMC, a joint venture with Air China, both had domestic LEAP-1C quick-turn capability, and AirPro News has covered SSAMC’s LEAP maintenance work in China.

MTU says its Zhuhai shop, in the Zhuhai Free Trade Zone, maintains LEAP-1A and LEAP-1B engines alongside the CFM56-5B/-7B, IAE V2500-A5 and Pratt & Whitney PW1100G-JM, and can perform up to 450 shop visits a year. A second site in Jinwan, in operation since March 2025, focuses on the PW1100G-JM.

GE Aerospace’s commercial business heading into the expo

The China agreements follow GE Aerospace’s third-quarter 2026 results, published October 20, 2026, in which total orders rose 49% to $19.0 billion. Orders in the Commercial Engines & Services segment reached $15.3 billion, up 58%, and LEAP deliveries rose 5%.

Internal shop visit revenue rose 12% in the quarter, including more than 40% growth for LEAP, and the company cited a commercial services backlog of more than $170 billion.