THE ENGINES IT KNOWS.

General Electric Co. and Rolls-Royce corp. have won the big checkbook game to provide powerplants for Boeing's 7E7, leaving Pratt & Whitney without a major program on which to pin its hopes for a successor to the PW4000. Boeing already has tapped major systems suppliers and announced that non Boeing manufacturers in Japan, Italy and the U.S. will be responsible for delivering completed assemblies of the majority of the aircraft's wing and tail. The choice of General Electric's Gen X, based on the GE90-94B and Rolls-Royce's Trent 1000, a Trent 900 derivative, could push a greater engine duopoly in other programs as airlines seek commonality across their fleets.