[jabl]

Sure they have an incentive to innovate, namely taking market share from their competitors.

The reason why they want a big pot of gold is that developing a new competitive jet engine is frighteningly expensive. The established vendors, with decades of in-house knowhow, will spend a decade and billions of dollars on a new from scratch engine. It's just not a game where a VC-funded startup with a very limited runway can expect to be successful.

But sure, I'd be happy to be proven wrong. Not holding my breath waiting though.