Boeing’s decision to launch the 777 Freighter program with a five-aircraft order from Air France highlights the fact that the company intends to keep the world’s biggest twin-engine aircraft in its product line-up as a companion to the new 787, with a focus on the new variants powered by the General Electric GE90-110 and -115 engines.
The 777-200LR, on show at Paris for the first time, was about half-way through its 400-to-450-sortie flight test program by the end of May, and comes here fresh from a series of test flights at Edwards AFB, including minimum control-speed tests. (Boeing uses Edwards because it has a large runway and predictably light winds in the morning and evening.) Tests are going well, says program manager Lars Anderson. “There are very few flight squawks. It keeps flying and is very easy to maintain.” Reliability is crucial for a long-range airplane, Anderson notes, because even a short delay can put the crew out of duty-time limits.
Until the last few months, the 777-200LR had gathered only a handful of orders, but that situation is changing. Boeing’s recent wins at Air Canada and Air India both include 777-200LRs (an unspecified number for Air Canada and five plus three options for Air India) and Air Canada has ordered two of the new 777-200F freighters, based on the -200LR airframe. The freighter is due to be delivered in the last quarter of 2008.
With a range of 9,420 nmi with a full passenger load, the 777-200LR can link almost any two city pairs in the world — even London-Sydney, in theory. But the in-service 777-300ER can cover most of the world’s routes with more seats and more cargo, so it is no surprise to Boeing that the latest 777-200LR orders are tied to -300ER sales.
The orders were an important boost for the 777 family. Boeing claims that the new-generation 777s are vastly more efficient than the directly competing A340-500/600, weighing 60,000 pounds less for equivalent capacity and burning 25% less fuel per seat, but the customers have nonetheless rewarded Airbus: in 2003 and 2004, the Airbus twin-aisle A330/A340 family outsold the 777 two-to-one.
Anderson does not disclose current production rates, but says that Boeing delivered 16 777s in the first four months of 2005. That may indicate a useful increase over the 36 aircraft delivered in 2004 but is still less than the 87 A330/A340s delivered last year. Boeing argues that it still has a healthy backlog — 160+ 777-200ERs alone — and that interest in the ‘classic’ 777 is reviving as Airbus firms up its A350 plans.
Boeing is looking at further improvements to the 777, incorporating interior innovations from the 787 and possibly introducing new crew-rest compartments and elevated storage — like the elevating coat-racks on early DC-10s — to further exploit the 777’s attic space and accommodate more seats. “We want to keep the aircraft as a good, fresh companion to the 787,” says Anderson. — Bill Sweetman
