Boeing is considering a new twin-aisle airliner that would bridge the gap between its 737 and the 787. The Wall Street Journal (subscription required) reported last week that Mike Delaney, Boeing’s VP of airplane development, said that the company believes there’s a market for up to 5000 aircraft that would seat up to 270 and operate on routes up to 10 hours long. Delaney said the company has been in discussion with 36 airlines about the plane, which would take about 10 years to develop. The 757 and 767 that fit that size range are no longer being built and those in service are considered old and inefficient. The new design would likely incorporate many of the features of the 787, including a composite airframe. Meanwhile, Boeing is hoping to lure operators of the extravagant A380 to a stretched version of its 777.
While it hasn’t even broken ground on a factory for its 777-9, a 400-seat modernized 777, the company has been floating the idea of a 450-seat version called the 777-10X. It will be aimed squarely at operators of the A380, which carries high operating and maintenance costs and only carries a few dozen more passengers. Emirates, which has the largest fleet of A380s, has been pressing Airbus for an upgraded version with more efficient engines but Airbus is reportedly not keen on making the investment.
