BOEING New jet must fly in tight market

Boeing gathered airlines' wish lists to boost its new plane's chance of success.
CHICAGO TRIBUNE
It has been touted as a revolutionary product for a faltering industry. A sketch depicts it flying above majestic clouds. And it carries a dreamy name.
Aside from that, few concrete details are available regarding the 7E7 Dreamliner, Boeing Co.'s latest plan for a new passenger jet. Communities across the country are vying to be selected as the manufacturing site for the plane.
Boeing has used a broad brush to describe its vision: The 7E7 will be superefficient, using 15 percent to 20 percent less fuel than the world's other wide-body jets, something Boeing plans to accomplish partly through the use of lightweight composite materials and new-generation engines. It is expected to seat 200 to 250 passengers.
Airlines love it
Airlines love the concept, and Boeing is working with about 40 of them worldwide to determine most other aspects of the 7E7, including its structure, its seat configuration and how far it will fly.
It is crucial to Boeing's future that the 7E7 succeed. Two plans for all-new jets have fallen through since the 777 entered service eight years ago. The failure to introduce an all-new product, along with Boeing's trouble selling commercial jets to its beleaguered airline customers, means the 7E7 has to be appealing enough to garner sales even in a market with few buyers.
Some major airlines are barely participating in discussions about the 7E7, which is expected to enter service in 2008.
"It's difficult to get airlines to really talk about specific demands when their very business models are under question," said Richard Aboulafia, aerospace analyst at the Teal Group.
Other airlines take Boeing's interest in feedback to heart.
Perhaps the most vocal participant in the 7E7 arena is Gordon Bethune, chief executive of Continental Airlines. What he wants most is a standardized airplane that can be used throughout the industry. A common airplane would cost less to manufacture, cut pilot training costs because there would be standardized cockpits and could make financing less expensive if lenders were able to unload airplane collateral easily onto other airlines flying the same standardized plane, Bethune figures.
If price is right
If the price was low enough, airlines would buy a standardized airplane despite their predilection for custom options, he argues.
Boeing executives say they plan to minimize choices on the 7E7. For example, there will not be 50 offerings for cup holders in the cockpits of the 7E7, as there are on some Boeing jets. And the 7E7 is expected to have just one type of landing gear.
But Boeing is not making a one-size-fits-all airplane.
After talking to Asian carriers, which often make short hops within countries, Boeing is considering making a shorter-range version of the 7E7. Current plans call for a long-range jet, flying up to 8,000 nautical miles.
A shorter-range 7E7 would appeal to discount carrier ATA Airlines, said founder and chief executive George Mikelsons.
But if a long-range version is all Boeing produces, "if we fall in love and find the costs are low, we will construct routes that fit the airplane," he said.
ATA's discussions with Boeing have been few and informal, Mikelsons said, probably because ATA is a small carrier.
Delta Air Lines, on the other hand, has had several meetings with Boeing executives regarding the 7E7. It is considered a potentially key customer for the new plane, which is expected to be roughly comparable in size to the many 767s Delta flies on short- and long-range flights. Boeing hopes to offer that flexibility in the 7E7.
Features
Delta has talked to Boeing about everything from entertainment systems to range capabilities to the value of having sensors that would determine the structural health of the airplane.
Some of the concepts are brought by Boeing. Others come from Delta.
"We've been pretty vocal on what the cockpit needs to look like. A huge cost for airlines is pilot training, and this airplane needs to be identical to the 777 cockpit," said John Burtz, who runs aircraft acquisition and sales for Delta.
That would make cross-training pilots for the two types of planes easier and less expensive, Burtz said. Delta prefers the 777 cockpit because it is one of the most advanced in the world, and 777 pilots would be paid roughly the same as 7E7 pilots.
The one item that is non-negotiable for the 7E7 is its efficiency, Burtz said. He has been told that overall operating costs for the 7E7 should be 20 percent below the costs of Delta's existing planes.
"If they're able to hit a 20 percent reduction, that's going to be pretty dramatic," he said. "They've been told by all the airlines that if they get 6 or 7 percent better than existing airplanes, they probably need to go back and scrub it again."