Boeing 787-10 or 777-8x: decision Likely This Year

A potential double-stretched 787-10 variant depends more on what Boeing decides to do with the 777 more than anything else.

Not for the first time, talk about a double-stretched 787 has entered the fray only this time, Boeing’s decision to establish a dedicated development team for the 777 puts the decision making into a rather grey area. Some of this is compounded by the ever-growing uncertainty over the rival Airbus A350-1000, which thus far is failing to make the grade on paper (or sales) against the 777-300ER.

There is equally the possibility that Boeing could do both moves and squeeze the big Airbus jet – it is a poor selling model in contrast to other 777, A350 and 787 variants. For whatever its worth, there’s more chance of a 787-10 and/or enhanced 777 emerging than there is of a so-called 150 seat CSeries.

Boeing hopes to make a decision this year on the 787-10 and aims to ensure that this larger-capacity 787 avoids cannibalizing sales of the 777, another family of Boeing aircraft that also may be getting new models, the 777-8X and 777-9X. While the 777 looks more than likely to benefit from a revamp rather than a full overhaul, this is paced more with the fact that the larger A350-1000 is still undefined and program sources attribute significant issues with the baseline A350-900 that have to be ironed out first before a stretch can happen, much less meet the advertised specifications Airbus has listed. 

Boeing is loathe to grow the 787 into 777 territory – a stretch too far, and you end up with a useless airplane like the A340-600 which trades passengers and payload for range and is saddled with higher costs.

A second stretch of the 787 would also raise engine thrust issues, affecting performance. As Boeing studies its options with 777, the company feels that a lower cost approach to improving that would be far more beneficial to countering the perceived angst any A350-1000 could cause.

Boeing Commercial Airplanes CEO Jim Albaugh said, “We will do the 787-10 by all likelihood. We’re now working through design concepts. Assuming the customer interest is there, later this year [a decision will be made], and we will have something to offer toward the end of the year.” He says the 787-10 will have a shorter range than the -9 but will be able to carry 40 more passengers, so “the economics are very good.”

The fact that the 787-10 is a stretch of the 787-9 means it will be in the realm of the 777 in terms of seating capacity. Albaugh, however, suggests otherwise. “We think we’ve got a good separation between the models. There’s 15% separation between the models. We’ve spread the sizing between them, so we don’t cannibalize any one aircraft.”

There have been some reports about a 777-8LX model, which promises more range, but Albaugh is dismissive. “I’ve seen something on a chart mentioning that, but I am focused on the 777-9X and 777-8X,” he says, referring to the new stretched version of the 777-300ER and 777-200, respectively. Albaugh was speaking to Aviation Week in Singapore yesterday during a media roundtable.

He says the 777-8X and 777-9X are hugely important to the company. Boeing sold 200 777s last year, and the aircraft is unbeatable in terms of efficiency, asserts Albaugh. But he also says Boeing is mindful of the fact that Airbus is planning the A350-1000, and declines to disclose details on the 777-9X, except to say “it will be a significant improvement over the 777-300ER.”

As for the 737 MAX, Albaugh says, “I hope we can have a couple of thousand orders before we deliver the first aircraft.” Boeing already has secured firm orders for the 737-8 and 737-9. Albaugh says it also has secured a 737-7 customer, but has yet to disclose who that is.

Albaugh declines to say when the 737 MAX specifications will be locked, but asserts they are already effectively firmed up because Boeing is giving MAX customers guarantees when it comes to the specs. He also says, “I don’t want to over-promise and under-deliver. I want to ensure that it is on spec and delivered on time.” Boeing has learned from the lessons of the 787 program, he adds.

Boeing has started delivering 787-8s, but has had to do some post-production fixes to the aircraft in response to concerns about delamination.

Boeing says 787 woes should be in the past now

Boeing says 787 woes should be in the past now

A top Boeing executive said the plane maker is frustrated with its latest 787 Dreamliner production glitch, but that it should not delay output goals.

Boeing vice president of development Mark Jenks said at a news conference yesterday in Singapore that the company has fixed a shimming problem discovered earlier this month on about 787 fuselages. Jenks said Boeing still plans to boost production from a current two to three 787s a month, to 10 of the planes a month by the end of next year. Jenks said the production mistake was “clearly frustrating and we’d rather it not happen.”

Boeing delivered its first Dreamliners last year to All Nippon Airways after several delays pushed back delivery by three years. ANA has so far received just two of the mid-sized, fuel-efficient jets, which is set to star at the Singapore Airshow this week where companies touting private jets and defense hardware to the Asian market will also be out in force.

Not to be outdone in Singapore, Airbus SAS — Boeing’s European rival — will display a large-scale model of its A350 XWB, which is still under development and is scheduled to enter into service by 2014. The A350 XWB is a mid-size, long-range plane which its makers tout as using 25 percent less fuel than similar sized aircraft in use today.

With Europe mired in a debt crisis and the US economic recovery still gaining traction, the world’s aircraft makers, major defense contractors and aerospace companies are looking at Asia’s robust markets, analysts said. Singaporean Second Minister for Trade and Industry S. Iswaran said Asia will account for 29 percent of global aircraft deliveries by 2026 and 32 percent of world air traffic in 2028.

However, with several airlines having already announced major purchases during the past 18 months, a key area of interest at the airshow — which starts tomorrow and runs through Sunday — will be the growing market for private jets in a region with expanding ranks of super-rich. “I’m expecting more focus on the private jet market,” said Shukor Yusof, a Singapore-based aviation analyst at Standard & Poor’s Equity Research.

“I think makers like Bombardier, Gulfstream and Embraer have more to offer in terms of the growing private jet business in mainland China and parts of Southeast Asia,” he said. Shukor said Asian tycoons are increasingly drawn to the convenience of a private jets over commercial flights, especially in a geographically fragmented region. “It’s more than just a status symbol, it’s more for practicality ... It’s probably more economical as well,” he said.

Defense companies will also make their presence felt at the biennial show.

India recently said it prefers the Rafale, made by French firm Dassault Group, over the Eurofighter after an intense bidding process for 126 fighter jets in a contract estimated to be worth US$12 billion. It is the world’s biggest single defense deal currently in process and underscores the region’s potential as a lucrative defense market.

“I think we can describe the picture in the Asia-Pacific market as an arms race,” said Guy Anderson, chief analyst at Jane’s Defence Industry. “We have a combination of growing national wealth, emerging national resources and the need to protect growth,” he said. “The rise of China remains a factor, but there are also numerous lower level regional rivalries ... Countries typically seek to achieve parity with their regional peers.”

For the first time, a Land Defense Expo will be launched in conjunction with the Singapore Airshow, organizers said. Consultancy Frost and Sullivan estimates the Asia-Pacific market for land defense systems should reach US$9.4 billion by 2016, up from US$5.4 billion in 2009.

The shift by regional armed forces toward weapons centered on high-tech networks, including the use of drones, is among the drivers for military modernization program, according to analysts.

Source:AP and AFP, SINGAPORE

The entire global fleet of Airbus A380 superjumbo jets are to be checked for cracks inside the wings.

The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) last month ordered “a detailed visual inspection”. The checks are to be extended to the entire fleet of 68 planes flying with seven different airlines, it was announced yesterday.

The EASA say they are working with Airbus on a “long-term fix” for the problem that should be ready by the summer. The decision to extend the order was made after the first set of results of inspections, but EASA say they don’t have details on how many cracks have been found in total. The checks are on the aircraft’s “wing rib feet” - the metal brackets that connect the wing’s ribs to its skin. (Graphic showing the location of the wing rib brackets in an A380 superjumbo, which are at the centre of concerns over cracking. Source: Airbus) 

The EASA’s original order came when Airbus said it had found new cracks on the brackets inside the wings of two superjumbos after inspections launched following a 2010 incident in which a Qantas A380’s engine disintegrated in flight. The agency gave airlines between four days and six weeks from January 24 to carry out checks on the initial batch of superjumbos, whose future customers include British Airways and Virgin Atlantic. Under the extended order, planes that have flown fewer than 1,300 takeoff and landing cycles will have to be checked before reaching that point, and planes that have flown more will have to be inspected within three weeks. 

Airbus said it has developed repair kits for the problem, which are currently being installed, and that the aircraft remained safe to fly. “These brackets are located on wing ribs which are not main load bearing structure, and, thus, the safe operation of the aircraft is not affected. “Nearly 4,000 such brackets are used on the A380 to join the wing-skin to the ribs. Only a handful of brackets per aircraft have been found to have been affected.” EADS said.

Still, EASA in its directive said that "this condition, if not detected and corrected, could potentially affect the structural integrity of the airplane."The airworthiness directive last month applied to the 20 planes that have flown the most. EASA spokesman Dominique Fouda said the updated directive extends the checks to the entire fleet of 68, currently flying with seven different airlines."In parallel, we are working with Airbus on a long-term fix that should be ready by the summer," He said the decision to extend the order was made "given the first results" of the inspections, but said he didn't have details on how many cracks have been found in total. EASA's original Jan. 20 order came after Airbus said it had found new cracks on the brackets inside the wings of two superjumbos after inspections launched following a 2010 incident in which a Qantas A380's engine disintegrated in flight. 

The agency gave airlines between four days and six weeks from Jan. 24 to carry out checks on the initial batch of planes. Earlier Wednesday, Australia's Qantas Airways said it was temporarily grounding one of its A380s after discovering dozens of hairline cracks in its wings. It said, however, that the cracks were of a different type from those that prompted EASA's Jan. 20 directive

Boeing and Korean Air today celebrated delivery of the airline’s first 747-8 and 777 Freighters.

The Boeing Co. delivered two aircraft to Korean Air on Monday in a ceremony at the Future of Flight Aviation Center near Mukilteo. Korean Air will be the first carrier to operate both 777 and 747-8 freighters.

With the milestone delivery, Korean Air becomes the first airline in the world to operate both the 747-8 and 777 Freighters.

“We are very proud to become the first airline in the world to have the combined strengths of these two freighters in its fleet. Our cargo fleet is being improved by these fuel-saving planes. They can help reduce carbon emissions by 17 percent and this supports our goal to be a responsible citizen of the world,” said Yang Ho Cho, chairman of Korean Air.

Korea’s flagship carrier is the first Boeing customer to order both variations of the new 747-8 airplane and is also a key supplier partner on this new airplane program.

Jim Albaugh, president and chief executive of Boeing Commercial Airplanes said: “Boeing is honored to celebrate this historic delivery with YH Cho and the Korean Air family, It is hard to imagine reaching this day without the leadership of YH and his vision to transform Korean Air into one of the best global airlines in the world.”

Korean Air plans to operate the 747-8 Freighter on its transpacific route, with stops in Osaka and Narita, Japan, Los Angeles and San Francisco.

The 777 Freighter is Korean Air’s first twin-engine freighter and will allow the airline to open into new markets in Europe, including Vienna, Frankfurt and London.