VH-BZF From Australia, joined Oct 1999, 783 posts, RR: 0 Posted (12 years 3 months 1 hour ago) and read 1807 times:
I have just been told that BLOOMBERG - the Business reporting agency - has advised on the Fox pay-TV station, that Boeing is to scrap plans for a larger B747 (dubbed the B747X) in favour of a 250 to 300 seat aeroplane that will fly close to the speed of sound & be super efficient & environmentally friendly!
Maybe they have decided (as orders for the B747X have been very slow to materialise!) to shelve plans for a VLA & instead focus on faster air transport? Perhaps they see the need for VLA's to be smallish & will now leave that segment of the market to Airbus? Who knows - maybe they need to come up with an all new design (of the B747X) to compete with Airbus?
Interesting times at Boeing, corporate HQ moving to CHI, DEN or DAL now this news.......what next for the Seattle giant??????
Cheers - BZF
Ansett Australia - (was) One of the worlds great airlines!
Catpac From Australia, joined Mar 2001, 236 posts, RR: 0 Reply 2, posted (12 years 3 months 1 hour ago) and read 1702 times:
Well, perhaps Airbus is proving to be too strong to be challenged in the "Jumbo" market and it seems that Boeing will have to look at a different market to make a living.
N202PA From United States of America, joined Jun 2000, 1550 posts, RR: 4 Reply 3, posted (12 years 3 months 1 hour ago) and read 1698 times:
Hot off the wire...but not nearly as definite as VH-BZF made it sound...
Boeing Might Drop 747X in Favor of Fast New Plane, Analysts Say
By Peter Robison
Seattle, March 23 (Bloomberg) -- Boeing Co. may drop a proposed larger version of its 747 jumbo jetliner in favor of developing a new mid-sized plane that would fly at close to the speed of sound, analysts said.
The decision would leave the market for planes seating more than 500 people to Airbus Industrie, which has won 62 orders for its A380 ``superjumbo'' from customers including Singapore Airlines Ltd. and FedEx Corp.
``Given the decent odds of a new plane launch potentially two years from now, we expect the 747X is dead,'' Morgan Stanley Dean Witter analyst Heidi Wood said in a research note.
Boeing said it remains committed to the 747X, which would cost about $4 billion to develop and add about 100 seats to its 416-seat 747. The plane doesn't have any orders yet.
``We see a robust market for the 747X,'' said Susan Bradley, a Boeing spokeswoman. ``We're pushing forward with both.''
Boeing has said it's updating the 747 rather than building an all-new plane because it doubts many airlines want a plane as large as the 550-seat A380. Boeing officials have said travelers would prefer to fly on smaller, faster planes able to get them to their destinations more quickly.
New Plane
The company hasn't given many details about the new plane, other than to say it could cut travel times by 15 to 20 percent. Boeing first acknowledged the plans in a news release on Wednesday, overshadowed by the announcement that it would move its headquarters out of Seattle after 85 years.
A January report in the Wall Street Journal, citing unnamed Boeing officials, said the plane could seat about 200 to 300 people and fly at Mach 0.95, or 95 percent of the speed of sound. The 747's typical cruising speed is Mach 0.85.
``We're really getting excited about a set of technologies'' related to the new plane, Alan Mulally, president and chief executive of the company's jetliner unit, said at Boeing's annual conference in Seattle this week.
The plane could be introduced in the second half of the decade, he said. Airbus, the No. 2 planemaker after Boeing, has said its A380 will enter service in 2006.
Boeing will approach potential suppliers about the new jet over the next two to three years, Mulally said. It's likely to be a replacement for Boeing's mid-sized 757 and 767 jetliners, many of which are 20 years old, analysts said.
``If they can pull it off, you can just write Airbus off right now,'' said Michael Boyd, president of Boyd Group/Aviation Systems Research in Evergreen, Colorado. ``That is a material, physical breakthrough in technology. We haven't had any of those since the 747.''
The plane would cost $8 billion to $10 billion to develop, with $2 billion funded by suppliers, Wood said. It's unlikely 747X development would continue because Boeing wants to keep annual research and development costs to around 3 percent of sales, which were $51 billion last year, she said.
The 747X won't necessarily be dropped, said Robert Toomey, an analyst with Dain Rauscher Wessels in Seattle.
``There's still going to be space in the market for that higher-capacity airplane,'' he said. ``I don't think this new plane replaces the 747 derivatives, but I think it looks very solid and there's a good likelihood they'll go ahead.''
Fly-By-Pilot From United States of America, joined Sep 2000, 209 posts, RR: 0 Reply 5, posted (12 years 2 months 4 weeks 1 day 23 hours ago) and read 1655 times:
They have been saying there isnt demand for super jumbos so they are just sticking with their fragmentation plans. There wouldnt be a A380 if it wasnt for the crazy %40 discounts. What would you want to buy, a 747 or the A380 with more capacity, huge marketing potential, and is millions cheaper. Boeing will enter the market with their BWB when there is demand, in 20 years.
Ikarus From United Kingdom, joined Jan 2001, 3524 posts, RR: 2 Reply 6, posted (12 years 2 months 4 weeks 1 day 23 hours ago) and read 1640 times:
The article is based on outside analysts? What next? An aviation enthusiast's point of view?
Common, until Boeing doesn't announce it, I'll stay sceptical.
Maybe I'm just optimistic (being too fond of the 747), but I do hope they'll make some sales by August, especially in Japan, and I do want to see new 747 derivatives, and I do believe they would be a viable alternative to the A380 for airlines.
RayChuang From United States of America, joined Jun 2000, 7716 posts, RR: 5 Reply 7, posted (12 years 2 months 4 weeks 1 day 22 hours ago) and read 1628 times:
I think what Boeing may be working on right now is a replacement for the 757/767 series. It's likely the plane will probably not have the canard plus delta wing configuration of the Yellowstone project, but will likely be a plane that has a slight wasp waist shape of the fuselage and a wing shape very close to the original Whitcomb supercritical airfoil ideal, powered by two 64,000-68,000 lb. thrust engines.
Not only will the plane be capable of cruising efficiently at around Mach 0.95 or higher, but could likely go slightly supersonic (Mach 1.1) on overwater routes without major penalties in terms of fuel burn.
VH-BZF From Australia, joined Oct 1999, 783 posts, RR: 0 Reply 9, posted (12 years 2 months 4 weeks 1 day 20 hours ago) and read 1611 times:
Sorry, the info was past to me from someone who had been watching the Bloomberg channel. Again analysts having a field day! Thanks for the transcript, more acurate!
I still think there is a market for a stretched & updated B747. Time will tell I guess?
BZF
Ansett Australia - (was) One of the worlds great airlines!
Boeing747-400 From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Reply 10, posted (12 years 2 months 4 weeks 1 day 17 hours ago) and read 1546 times:
I think since there have been no orders for new 747s besides the LR with only 6, Boeing is showing that they are not getting down to business on this airplane. THe 747X Stretch can compete with the A380 very well, I think. Boeing now knows that there is a market for a NLA and they really need to start talking with more airlines and offering some sweet deals to get the new 747s to a good start.
AerLingus From China, joined Mar 2000, 2371 posts, RR: 0 Reply 11, posted (12 years 2 months 4 weeks 1 day 16 hours ago) and read 1533 times:
I no longer take what Boeing says seriously anymore.
First they want a VLA, then they want an SST, then they want to update the 747.
I won't be a believer until the first bolt goes into the first piece of aircraft aluminum.
Boeing nut From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Reply 12, posted (12 years 2 months 4 weeks 1 day 13 hours ago) and read 1481 times:
The 747X program is far from dead. According to Aviation Week & Space Technology, Boeing just completed yet another meeting with airlines on the 747X proposal. Airlines expressed interest in the overhead space utilization designs. The non-stretch aircraft is gaining more interest, as well as the frieghters. Boeing has had more lucrative discussions with the Japanese on thier role in the aircraft. Boeing also has hired more than 100 new employees to work on the program. I hardly think Boeing would be going through these measures towards a "dead" program.
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