777 Replacement May Be All New Model
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By Jens Flottau
Boeing will make a decision on how to improve its 777 in the next one or two years and may opt to go straight for an all-new aircraft, according to Chairman and CEO Jim McNerney.
“Eventually, we will have an all-composite replacement for the 777,” he said on the sidelines of the Paris Air Show. “The question is how long will it take us to get there.”
McNerney said that Boeing will continue to study how competitive the planned Airbus A350-1000 will be and react accordingly. As an alternative to an all-new 777 family, Boeing is also considering rewinging the existing aircraft. In that case, “it looks attractive to us to have one aircraft sitting on top of the 787 family. But eventually we will come up with a new family.”
Airbus plans to introduce the A350-900 in 2013, followed by the smaller A350-800 and the larger -1000 soon after. The -1000 directly competes with the 777-200ER and -300ER, while the smaller versions are targeted against the 787-8 and 787-9 that will already have been in service for a couple of years before the Airbus models become available.
A new family of 777s would be placed slightly above the A350-1000, but would end below the size of the 747-8, McNerney said. According to Boeing’s calculations, the all-composite fuselage aircraft would be 20%-25% lighter than the current 777 and consequently offer “huge savings” in fuel burn.
Airlines have not yet responded openly in any significant numbers to the Boeing plans. But Tim Clark, president of Emirates — one of the biggest 777 operators — isn’t so sure rewinging will be enough for a future 777 to compete with the A350-1000. The wing of the current 777 “is already very good,” Clark says. “I’d be thinking seriously about an all-new aircraft.”
McNerney did not give more details on the possible timing. But a launch decision around 2011 would likely see a major redesign enter service not before 2016 with a completely new family coming even later.
The plans are also significant because they may have large implications for the timeline of a potential 737 replacement. Boeing did not come up with any new guidance on when it might want the aircraft in service. But rival Airbus seems to be looking at delaying the decision even more. Chief Operating Officer of Customers John Leahy indicated that the aircraft may be ready as late as 2022, which is four or five years later than originally planned.
Photo: Boeing
