Board Of Directors Gives Green Light After Orders For Nearly
500 Updated Airliners
The question as to whether Boeing will re-engine its workhorse
737 or design a completely new airplane has finally been answered.
The company's board of directors has approved the launch of the new
engine variant of the market-leading 737, based on order
commitments for 496 airplanes from five airlines and a strong
business case.
"The re-engined 737 will allow Boeing to continue to deliver the
most fuel efficient, most capable airplane with the lowest
operating costs in the single-aisle market," said Boeing Commercial
Airplanes President and CEO Jim Albaugh in a news release Tuesday.
"This, coupled with industry leading reliability and
maintainability, is what customers have told us they want. As a
result, we are seeing overwhelming demand for this new and improved
version of the 737. We are working with our customers to finalize
these and other agreements in the weeks and months ahead."
The new 737 family will be powered by CFM International LEAP-1B
engines optimized for the 737. It will have the lowest operating
costs in the single-aisle segment with a 7 percent advantage over
the competition. Deliveries are scheduled to begin in 2017.
"Customers tell us they want to improve profitability and fuel
efficiency while reducing their environmental footprint," said
Albaugh. "This solution meets all three of those needs."
When compared to a fleet of 100 of today's most fuel-efficient
airplanes, Boeing says this new model will emit 277,000 fewer tons
of CO2 and save nearly 175 million pounds of fuel per year, which
translates into $85 million in cost savings. The airplane's fuel
burn is expected to be 16 percent lower than our competitor's
current offering and 4 percent lower than their future
offering.
Boeing has named Bob Feldmann vice president and general manager
of the new engine 737 family. With 35 years of aerospace
experience, Feldmann most recently led the Surveillance and
Engagement division within Boeing Military Aircraft, a unit of
Boeing Defense, Space & Security that includes several
commercial derivative programs based on the 737 platform. He has
been instrumental in leading the successful development of complex
programs such as the EA-18G Growler and the P-8A Poseidon.
Michael Teal has been named vice president, chief project
engineer and deputy program manager. Teal's most recent role was
vice president and chief project engineer on the 747-8 program,
where he was instrumental in managing the airplane's configuration
and integration, performance, safety, test and certification.
The 737 family has won orders for more than 9,000 airplanes, and
the company says its Next-Generation 737 program has continuously
improved the products, features and services that provide
increasing value to customers. Boeing forecasts global demand for
more than 23,000 airplanes in the 737's market segment over the
next 20 years at a value of nearly $2 trillion. (Images Courtesy
Boeing)