( CNN ) -- There are few industries that have n't been shaken up by the game-changing potential of 3-D printing , and aviation is no exception . While it may be fun to imagine manufacturers spitting out planes at the touch of a button , the reality is more low key , though no less revolutionary . As is usually the case with aviation , it is all kicking off with a jet engine . Engine maker CFM International , a joint venture between GE Aviation and the French company Snecma , has created the LEAP engine -- an acronym for `` leading edge aviation propulsion '' that the company hopes reflects just how innovative the new aircraft component is . LEAP has many futuristic features , including a 3-D-printed nozzle , the part of the plane responsible for burning fuel . `` This technology is actually enabling us to create designs that would n't physically be possible to make with standard conventional machining , '' said Gareth Richards , LEAP 's program manager . Read more : Compare taxi fares from the airport to downtown . While GE has been using 3-D printing for years to make plastic prototypes , only recently has the technology matured to the point of creating objects with stronger materials . `` We can do this in almost any metal you care to choose . We can do it in aluminum or nickel or steel . This is not 3-D printing like you might have seen on some tech show where people are making parts from plastic out of their basement . This is n't prototyping , where you have to figure out how to make it for real . This is making fully functioning production parts out of real aerospace materials , '' said Richards . LEAP incorporates another first ; the engine 's fan blade is made from a material called Ceramic Matrix Composite . Essentially , it is ceramic that is as tough as steel , although unlike metal , it can withstand extreme temperatures . More important , it is lighter than any alloy previously used . The manufacturer says the material used in the fan blades and other components makes a plane 1,000 pounds lighter than normal . `` LEAP reduces fuel burn by 15 % over its predecessor engine . That adds up to several million dollars saved per year per plane , '' said GE Aviation spokesman Rick Kennedy . Read more : Airbus A350 XWB unveiled . Thus far , the new engine has been a sexy sell for airlines . CFM has n't even started ground testing the engine , and they already have 4,500 orders from the likes of Qantas , American Airlines , Virgin and Southwest Airlines . CFM is planning for the engines to go into service by 2016 , which means it needs to produce 1,500 engines a year . But the technology makes the goal achievable by cutting manufacturing time . `` For our most complex parts , it 's common for the time it takes to be measured not only in weeks , but months or even more than a year , '' said Richards . `` Now , we 're talking about going from the computer file to the finished part in hours or days . '' Read more : The dawn of driverless cars . Airbus has also started playing with additive manufacturing . Peter Sander , of Airbus 's Innovation Cell , imagines that by 2050 the company will be selling commercial planes made almost entirely from 3-D printed parts . For now , Airbus is content with making printed brackets , which will become a standard part of production by 2016 . Each component made from 3-D printing , Sander reckons , is 25 percent lighter than the equivalent made from traditional manufacturing . `` Weight reduction is our driving force , because less weight means less fuel , '' says Sander .
A new engine , called Jet , uses a nozzle created by 3D printing . The material used for the fan blades is a tough ceramic that reduces the weight of the blades by 1,000 pounds . GE Aviation has acquired companies that specialized in direct metal laser sintering . Airbus has also begun to experiment with additive manufacturing .