Rolls-Royce Challenges Plane Engine Monopoly Claims

Rolls-Royce PLC claims it’s not trying to shut down the secondary market for certain airplane engine fan blades, and that a San Diego federal court has no jurisdiction over an antitrust lawsuit claiming it did, reported Bloomberg. 

“Compliance with the Sherman Act would conflict directly with what the FAA regulations require Rolls-Royce to do when it discovers a failure, malfunction, or defect in an aviation part,” the motion states.

The suit concerns the resale of fan blades, manufactured solely by Rolls-Royce, that are used in the Trent 1000 engines of Boeing and Airbus jetliners. Rolls-Royce was hit with an antitrust lawsuit claiming it’s trying to shut down the secondary market for certain airplane engine fan blades that only it can manufacture and refurbish.

Rolls is the sole maker of fan blades for planes running on Trent 1000 engines, a group that includes major jetliner models made by nonparties Boeing and Airbus, according to the complaint. The suit concerns the resale market for 20 Trent 1000 fan blades damaged when an unspecified Boeing plane engine “inadvertently ingested dust and grit.”

Full Content: Bloomberg

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