Features & Completions Matter More For ACJ, BBJ as Money Gets Tighter

No one's saying business is bad yet, but it's clear that providing special features and getting aircraft to customers sooner is becoming more important even in the market for the biggest of all corporate aircraft, the Airbus A319 Corporate Jetliner and the Boeing Business Jet.

The airliners-cum-business jets don't quite have the long, long legs of top-of-the-line dedicated corporate craft like Bombardier's Global Express or the Gulfstream V, but it's close, and they sure do have the space: much, much more space.

They are, after all, modified versions of passenger airliners, with the BBJ based on Boeing's best-selling 737NG.

As such they're big enough to allow business travelers to dispense not only with the airline/airport experience, but with hotels.

The Airbus ACJ has a cabin 78 feet long. It will fly 6,100 nmi (all range figures based on eight passengers/available fuel) and costs $45 million. Boeing's BBJ 1, based on the 737-700, has a cabin more than 79 feet long. It will fly 6,134 nmi and costs $47.5 million; the BBJ 2, based on the 737-800, has a cabin more than 98 feet long. It will fly 5,700 nmi and costs $59.5 million. The Airbus and Boeing offerings top out at 41,000 feet, while the Global Express and Gulfstream V have ceiling of 51,000 feet. They have greater range: 6,410 and 6,425 nmi, respectively; and prices of $41.7 million for the Global and $41.45 million for the G-V.

Airbus has 26 orders for the ACJ. Improvements this year, based on customer demand, include an alliance with Tenzing Communications (Airbus acquired a 30% share of Tenzing) to bring limited inflight e-mail and Internet access to passengers, including ACJ flyers. Tenzing contributes software that runs on an airborne server, affording passengers Internet access on their own laptops via bursts of communication from the aircraft every few minutes. The system's limited capability is due to using narrow L-band air-to-ground satellite links, but it is to be able to use broadband (Ku-band) frequencies when they're available.

Airbus has lined up Air France Industries as its fifth approved cabin outfitter for the ACJ. AFI will complete up to four ACJs per year. Six standard layouts range from 10 to 39 seats and cost between $8 million and $12 million.

Airbus also has a new deal with International Aero Engines for V2527M-A5 engines to be the reference powerplant for the ACJ. They power about half the European airframer's A319/A320 fleet.

Like Airbus, Boeing sees passenger communication capabilities as critical. It's got a homegrown product dubbed Connexion that it expects to bring high-speed e-mail and Internet link-ups to passengers and flight crew.

Boeing has lined up DeCrane Aircraft Systems Integration (PATS) in Delaware for BBJ warranty work. Delta Air Lines' technical operations unit will support 29 BBJs that are to be part of the NetJets fractional ownership fleet. NetJets has ordered 15 BBJs and holds options for 14 more.

Boeing claimed 71 BBJ orders at NBAA 2000 and is expected to disclose a total of 80 or 85 here this week. NBAA 2001 is important for Boeing because many of its orders to date have been from wealthy individuals, and the company would like to tap this market-where the aircraft can be sold as a time-saving business tool. Boeing sees potential for as many as 30 BBJ sales per year. To help meet that goal, a second BBJ corporate demonstrator aircraft is being completed by Jet Aviation in Basel, Switzerland.

BBJs have CFM56-7 engines. That's to be expected, as not only do CFM56s power the 737 air-liner, but Boeing Business Jets is itself a joint venture of Boeing and General Electric.

Lee Monson will replace Borge Boeskov as BBJ president early next year.

Airbus VP Richard Gaona has charge of the ACJ program.

-Rich Piellisch