EVERETT — Amid celebration for the official debut of the 777 Freighter, Boeing said it would be prepared to offer a 787 Freighter if the market demanded it.
Tom Crabtree, regional director of business strategy for Boeing Commercial Airplanes, discussed the potential of the composite jetliner to become a freighter aircraft in the future.
“Long term, we have designed provisions into the [787 Dreamliner] when the
market demands it, to allow that aircraft to become a freighter.” said Crabtree.
“We worked with the initial design…about 5 years ago during the initial sizing of the airplane, developing the market requirements of what that airplane would look like.”
Crabtree added that the 787 was designed with the future accommodation of a cargo door in mind.
“In terms of designing a jet freighter in the future, we have routed the systems such that area where the main deck door would go, are clear of any reroutings, say, electrical or hydraulic lines.”
Crabtree cited a similar timeline to that of the 767-300F when speculating about the potential availability of a 787 Freighter, which first entered service in October 1995 after making its debut as a passenger airplane in 1982.
Furthermore, Boeing is expecting the 777 Freighter to enter service in the fourth quarter of this year with Air France, slightly more than thirteen years after beginning passenger service with United Airlines in 1995.
In keeping with the historical time frame of past Boeing freighter programs, the market could potentially see the availability of a 787 Freighter in the 2019-2024 time frame.
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This post originally appeared at Flightglobal.com from 2007 to 2012.