FlightBlogger Archive 2007-2012

Boeing’s Albaugh on 737RE, 777EW and 787IGW, et al.

Written by

Jon Ostrower

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I had an opportunity on Wednesday to participate in an hour-long media roundtable with Boeing Commercial Airplanes CEO James Albaugh, that turned into a wide-ranging conversation about the future of the company’s commercial aircraft business. In addition to 737, 777 and 787, we discussed the future of the tanker and the potential for an ITAR line for the 767, production rates, China’s capability as an aircraft manufacturer, the future of the relationship with SPEEA and IAM, engine exclusivity and the future of Charleston.


The complete recording is at the bottom of the page.
737RE
Somewhat unsurprisingly, the conversation was dominated by the on-going debate about re-engining the 737. While Boeing’s options remain unchanged – Re-engine the 737, keep the status quo or new build a new narrowbody – Albaugh offered an interesting insight into the methodology the advanced product development teams are going through right now.

Albaugh called the decision a “complex algorithm” that required the right balance and understanding of the new engine/airframe capability and reliability when matched against existing Next Generation and Classic 737s, like in the case of Southwest Airlines. 
Perhaps most notably, he discussed the Boeing tendency toward the “requirements creep“, which is to say, the addition of new capabilities that serve to drive up the development cost of the aircraft. (Full Story)

“You’ve got to watch out for the requirement creep. Our engineers would love to put every bell and whistle on this airplane that they know of, we have to resist that,” says Albaugh.

“I will do everything I can to reduce the requirements creep, so it doesn’t become an equivalent of a major change to the aircraft, and we certainly don’t want it to become a new airplane. When we do a new airplane we want to bring the right technologies to it, which will really give us a leap over what we’ve built today.”

777EW
Toward the end of the interview, I asked about the incremental improvements coming to the 777 over the next few years. Mr. Albaugh mentioned the increases in thrust for high altitude airports and the 5,000lb increase in the maximum zero fuel weight of the aircraft, the equivalent of 20-25 more passengers. In addition, he referenced “extending the wing” of the 777 as one option being shown to customers. Company sources say that the increased span, referred to as the 777EW (Extended Wing), could be in service with airlines as early as the fourth quarter of 2012. (Full Story)

787IGW
While it has not received a different designation beyond the 787-8, Airplane 20, the first major production blockpoint to incorporate weight savings and significant design changes is a few weeks away from beginning final assembly in Everett. Albaugh discussed the early flight test data coming out of flight test and the prospects for future performance of the aircraft:

Based on everything that I’ve seen, I feel very confident that we’ll be able to meet the guarantees that we’ve given the airlines. Are the first few airplanes going to meet all the guarantees? No. We understand that. I think that’s pretty consistent with prior new airplanes we’ve delivered. 

As we get into airplane 20 and beyond, and have further block changes, I think we’ll be able to meet the guarantees. At some point we’ll take all the things we’ve done to the -9 and roll them back into the -8. I think we can get this thing…below the weight guarantees that we’ve made to people.

Airplane 20, which will be the first 787 for JAL, does have an increased maximum takeoff weight from 484,000lbs to 502,500lbs, which should restore some of the payload and range capabilities of the aircraft. Albaugh did not specify exactly what new features are part of the Airplane 20 blockpoint, but the Airbus Dossier asserts that the aircraft will have a revised airframe, strengthened outboard wing, center wing box, wing leading edges, main landing gear well and center fuselage, as well as enhanced maneuver load alleviation (MLA). 
You can listen to Wednesday’s complete 61min-long interview with James Albaugh below. The recording starts just after I asked him if 787 and 747-8 are going to be visiting the Farnborough Air Show in July.

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This post originally appeared at Flightglobal.com from 2007 to 2012.

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