ABSTRACT
By the late 1970s, the Callaghan government was vying to power the next generation Boeing airliner with a Rolls-Royce engine. From the British point of view, the rise of the European Airbus created a favourable climate for negotiation. Indeed, BAe’s attempt to re-enter the Airbus Consortium was viewed by the Callaghan Cabinet primarily as leverage to strengthen Britain’s negotiating position with the Americans. Britain was once more in the familiar position of “riding two horses” – one European, one American. In fact, Rolls-Royce’s strategy of powering American Boeing airliners had a considerable impact on the company’s commercial success going into the twenty-first century. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, the Trent series engine (a derivative of the RB211) powered both American aircraft and Airbus airframes. This success earmarked Rolls-Royce’s emergence as one of the Big Three aero-engine producers along with American P&W and GE.
