Boeing decides bigger isn't always better
Your next airplane is still on the drawing board in Seattle. But when it enters service in 2008, the Boeing 7E7 Dreamliner promises to bring a dramatic technology upgrade to airline travel.
Boeing Co., best known for its jumbo jets, has dropped out of the super-jumbo competition with its European rival, Airbus Industrie. Instead it is opting for a mid-size jetliner that will fly cleaner and quieter, burn less fuel, and give passengers fresher air and a better view.
''Historically, bigger has been better," said John Feren, Boeing's vice president for 7E7 sales and marketing. ''But we've really looked at our customers, and our customers' customers. And our view of today's market is that people want more point-to-point service."
Thus, the 7E7 -- the E stands for efficiency, environment, and Everett, Wash., outside Seattle, where the new jet will be built -- is being designed to pioneer new direct routes and ease congestion on already popular routes.
Its new, lighter structure and fuel-efficient engines should cut operating costs for financially squeezed airlines.
And for long-suffering passengers, there will be more moisture in the air, less cabin pressure, and larger seats, windows, and overhead compartments.
''This one is really a paradigm-breaker, both in terms of the content and the manufacturing technique," said Richard L. Aboulafia, vice president and analyst with Teal Group Corp., an aerospace and defense industry research and consulting firm in Fairfax, Va.
On the production front, Boeing's first new commercial aircraft in over a decade is expected to add only a couple of thousand jobs at the company -- fewer than half the number created by previous models of passenger jets. That's because Boeing is drastically reducing its number of suppliers, buying completed hydraulic systems, for example, rather than individual pumps and valves. Most of the work done in Everett will be final assembly.
Among the high-tech innovations in the twin-aisle 7E7, which Boeing may rename before its commercial service launch, will be:
Lighter-weight engines from General Electric Co. and Rolls-Royce PLC that will cut fuel consumption by about 20 percent and reduce noise 13 to 14 decibels below government-mandated levels.
Resilient carbon-fiber material on more than 50 percent of the airplane, giving it the highest share of composite content of any large commercial jet. The material will reduce weight and enable Boeing to lower pressure and add humidifiers.
Wider fuselage cross-sections (about 14 inches wider than on the competing Airbus A330), enabling Boeing to increase the size of everything from lavatories to overhead bins and to install windows roughly 30 percent larger than today's standard sizes. Boeing will also include ''mood lighting systems" modeled after those in hotels and restaurants.
But passengers shouldn't expect their personal space to be radically expanded. ''Yeah, everyone wants a shuffleboard court and duty-free shopping on board, but you have to pay for it," Aboulafia said.
Electric generators, attached to the engines, that will power everything from flight controls to lights and air conditioning without having to bleed air from the engines, as today's jetliners do.
A wireless environment for in-flight entertainment, eliminating the need to rewire every time new standards are introduced. With the new system, ''airlines can either bring the entertainment on board through a satellite or they can put a server on board," Feren said.
Airlines will benefit from the fuel savings and lower operating costs. But it remains to be seen whether any or all of the new cabin features will create a clamor for the 7E7 by ticket-buying consumers -- many of whom are blissfully unaware of the model or manufacturer of the planes they fly in. Boeing executives are clearly hoping they will.
''It'll be a differentiator," Feren predicted. ''People will go, 'Wow, that's the airplane with larger windows.' . . . We're putting a lot of these innovations in with the firm belief that airline passengers will recognize and appreciate the differences."
Aboulafia is more skeptical, noting that passengers historically have been driven more by price than amenities. ''It's never happened before," he said, ''but hope springs eternal."
Robert Weisman can be reached at weisman@globe.com.
