Boeing BBJs: 'No One Has Returned One Yet'

Is Boeing's BBJ too big for its role as a corporate express or a potentate's modern magic carpet? Is it made less than welcome on some business aircraft aprons, and even obliged sometimes to park so far from fast-track facilities that privileged passage through the formalities can be compromised?

"Well, we have 27 BBJs in service now out if 71 ordered, and no one has returned an aircraft to us yet," answers Boeing international sales VP Manfred Schindler.

He does recall one customer selling his luxury Boeing to an acquaintance after only two months, but says "He immediately ordered another one."

There is a reluctance to identify individual customers because, for security or other reasons, most buyers of business jets prefer anonymity.

But Schindler readily identifies his business jet customers as 40% private owners, 25% charter and fractional owners, 20% corporate operators, and 15% government and royalty.

He acknowledges that once in a while a big business jet might want to get into a small city airport where there could be difficulties, but points out that this has not been a factor of consequence for Boeing buyers.

"They are more concerned with performance, prestige, space, and comfort," Schindler says. "The BBJ 2's range is about 450 nm less than the BBJ's, but it still does European cities direct from the U.S. West Coast, and with more space and more cargo capacity -- an important factor for Middle East customers."

Boeing delivered its first two "green" BBJ 2s last month during the earthquake that struck Seattle.

Schindler lists Boeing's global spread of BBJ and BBJ 2 buyers as 49% North America, 27% Middle East, 13% Europe and 11%, Asia/Pacific, and he believes that despite the current economic stresses in Japan and markets' uncertainty in America, these ratios will remain largely the same.
"You have to bear in mind that Asia is a large market, and Japan in business aviation terms is only a relatively small part of it," Schindler says.

"Despite its many large corporations, its corporate aviation is under-developed. Restrictions at its airports are such that obtaining slots is not easy. However, it is not a situation which will last forever, and in fact, the authorities are already taking the first steps to loosening their grip."

Boeing's latest figures (not updated since the NBAA Show in October) indicate that in addition to the 27 BBJs in service, a further 20 "greens" had been delivered to specialist outfitting companies in different centers, with total deliveries by the end of last year reaching 51.

Schindler's says that since every BBJ goes off to an outfitting company of the customer's own choice for completion, and every one displays its unique interpretation of luxury and communications' sophistication, every new aircraft is exciting.

"It's the most interesting element," he says, "in a fascinating sector of the aviation business."

By Steve Morris