Airlines want new 250-seat jet, engine maker says

By Chris Stetkiewicz


SEATTLE, Feb 14 (Reuters) - The world's airlines are clamoring for an all-new mid-sized commercial jet, according to engine manufacturer Pratt & Whitney, though neither of the two major airplane makers are offering one.

Sales of 250-seat aircraft have slowed in recent years, which may signal airline dissatisfaction with the options available: Boeing Co.'s 767 and Airbus Industrie's

1/8ARBU.UL 3/8 A330, each of which is based on 20-year-old designs.

"Do I think there's a possibility that the world wants a new 200- to 250-seat airplane? I think the answer is yes, and I think it's only a question of when," said Robert Leduc, executive vice president at Pratt and Whitney, a unit of United Technologies Corp. .

A month ago Toulouse, France-based Airbus shelved plans to build the proposed A330-500, a derivative jet that some airline executives privately deemed too heavy and too expensive to operate.

Seattle-based Boeing has said it was studying an all-new mid-sized jet, but had yet to move beyond the drawing board.

To date Boeing has not identified new technology that would significantly improve performance or lower the cost of the 767 line, said Randy Baseler, Boeing commercial airplane marketing chief, seated alongside Leduc at a conference hosted by investment bank SG Cowen.

"We continue to look at airplanes across the whole product line," Baseler said. "Mostly what we are looking at ... is how to design, build and produce these airplanes for significantly less."

Singapore Airlines Ltd. on Wednesday said it would buy 10 widebody Boeing 777s, noting that the 325-seat jet was bigger than what it really wanted.

Baseler agreed that interest in so-called "middle market" airplanes was building after two years of subpar sales.

"There are a few campaigns here and there. Airlines are starting to focus on that. We will see some campaigns this year," Baseler said. "With our present (jet) models, we think we are pretty well positioned."

A handful of European airlines are looking at mid-sized jet orders this year, Leduc said, notably Germany flag carrier Lufthansa , which may buy both passenger and freighter airplanes.

But airplane orders in general are scarce this year, after a surprisingly strong showing in 2000. Many analysts predict Boeing and Airbus will book about 750 orders combined in 2001, down from over 1,100 last year.

"Narrowbody-wise, clearly a potential large order from America West , maybe as many as 60 airplanes needed," Leduc said. "Outside of that we don't see a really big narrowbody order in North America. There are other campaigns, but nowhere near that quantity of aircraft."

Leduc said he was surprised by a spike in jet orders from leasing companies and a record-setting order for 94 narrowbody 737s from all-Boeing discount carrier Southwest Airlines Co. , which boosted orders to an unsustainable level in 2000.

19:20 02-14-01

Copyright 2001 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon. All active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.