GE Aviation, an operating unit of General Electric Company (GE), was chosen by The Boeing Company (BA) to supply avionics computing systems for its new 777X aircraft, building on its proven capability on the 787 Dreamliner.

Per the contract, GE Aviation will equip Boeing’s 777X aircraft with Common Core System (“CCS”) and Enhanced Airborne Flight Recorder (“EAFR”).

The 777X is a modernized version of Boeing’s current 777, and already has 300 orders and commitments from customers like Emirates, Lufthansa, Qatar, Etihad, ANA and Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd. (CPCAY).

The CCS, which is often cited as the “central nervous system and brain” of an aircraft, hosts its avionics and utilities functions, reducing boxes drastically and lowering the use of wires. The scalable platform has an open system architecture, which requires testing and certification of only those functions that have been altered, thus considerably diminishing the cost of modifying software.

GE Aviation’s EAFR will record parametric flight data, flight crew audio and data link communications, and will store this data in non-volatile, crash-survivable memory, which can be salvaged and analyzed. Apart from Boeing 787 aircrafts, thousands of military aircrafts use GE’s flight recorders.

The systems technology for the 777X will be built at two of GE Aviation’s major facilities. Its Grand Rapids, MI unit will manufacture the CCS and the EAFR, while the remote data concentrators will be made in the Cheltenham, United Kingdom facility.

The 777X aircraft is currently in the designing phase, with production expected to commence in 2017, and targeted delivery in 2020. The 777X family comprises the 777-8X and the 777-9X. The twin-aisle aircraft will be powered by GE Aviation’s GE9X engine, which is currently under development and is expected to be over 5% efficient than other comparable engines.

Through its remarkable work on the Boeing 787 and now the 777X aircraft, GE Aviation has redefined the avionics cost curve by eliminating the rapidly climbing software development expenditures.

General Electric currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). A better-ranked conglomerate that is worth a look now is Federal Signal Corp. (FSS), sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

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