UPDATE 8:56 AM CT: Central to Boeing moving forward in developing this new 737 variant is Boeing’s own tendency to make too much change all at once. Boeing’s Jim Albaugh discussed this over a year ago, and the phase “requirements creep” us going to be one you’ll be hearing a lot about in the coming months.
March 18, 2010 Flashback: Boeing must resist ‘requirements creep’ on re-engining 737: Albaugh
UPDATE 7:42 AM CT: My first take: Boeing looks to 4Q for formal launch of re-engined 737
Also, this order is a big win for Renton, Washington, which in recent months saw the evaluations of the new single aisle (NSA) and wondered whether or not it would play a roll in building what came next for Boeing’s single aisle offering.
UPDATE 6:53 AM CT: Strong indication now coming from the airframers that narrowbody production rate increases as a result of this deal are likely.
Boeing says that the re-engined 737 – a product currently in its conceptual phase – will likely be launched by the Boeing Board of Directors sometime this fall, placing the formal authority to offer the aircraft sometime between late September and late December.
UPDATE 6:37 AM CT: AMR said it will “benefit from approximately $13 billion of committed financing from the manufacturers through lease transactions” to reduce risk and covers the first 230 aircraft.
Deliveries will begin in 2013 and run through 2022, with American Airlines anticipating it have the youngest US fleet within five years.
Of the 260 Airbus aircraft, 100 will be for current generation A320 family aircraft, with 160 more A320neos beginning in 2017, plus an additional 365 options and purchase rights.
American Airlines leadership will hold a 7:30 AM CT conference call on the massive order, followed by a 10 AM CT press conference with Boeing Commercial Airplanes CEO Jim Albaugh and Airbus CEO Tom Enders.
6:01 AM CT: AMR, parent corporation of American Airlines, has placed an order for 460 aircraft, including 260 Airbus A320s and 100 Next Generation Boeing 737 and 100 yet-to-be-launched re-engined 737s, powered by CFM Leap-X engines.
The agreement with Boeing is for up to 300 aircraft, with the addition of 40 options on current model 737s and 60 options on the re-engined model.
This is a breaking story and will be updated.
Second Photo Credit Airbus
This post was originally published to the internet between 2007 and 2012. Links, images, and embedded media from that era may no longer function as intended.
This post originally appeared at Flightglobal.com from 2007 to 2012.