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No U.S. Carriers in Line for 7E7, Yet
Boeing says that there's a long line of airlines ready to sign for the 7E7, but there may not be any U.S. carriers among them. "We're a little light in the U.S., and we're scratching our heads over that," program svp Mike Bair said here on Tuesday. "We have a lot of activity, but without one part of our broad base."
Adds Bair: "At some point, they're going to wake up, and we're wondering how we're going to tell them that we don't have any airplanes for them."
Boeing claims that airlines have already placed deposits covering 200 aircraft and current proposals cover 600 airplanes, most of them in the first five years of production. This would be more than enough to fill the production line until 2012.
The 7E7-3 version is tailored for medium ranges, including U.S. domestic routes, while Boeing predicts that the 7E7-8 will open up hundreds of new city pairs worldwide, many of them from the U.S. to Europe or Asia.
The stretched 7E7-9, meanwhile, is "penciled in" for 2012, says Bair. "We kind of know the size, but it could be bigger." Emirates, among others, has said that it's interested in the 7E7's claimed economy but would like to see it in a 300-seat airplane—the 7E7-9 is a 250-seater. "But if you push it to 300 seats it's a 777, and we already have one of those," noted Bair.
—Bill Sweetman
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