FLUG REVUE February 2004: Boeing 7E7 launch was a must

BOEING 7E7: FAILURE IS NO OPTION

By Volker K. Thomalla

2003 was not a particularly good year for Boeing. Its Space unit was forced to accept huge write-offs, its Commercial Aircraft unit lost its market leadership to Airbus, and shortly before the end of the year first its Chief Financial Officer, Mike Sears, was fired, and then Boeing's long-standing President and Chief Executive Officer, Phil Condit, resigned unexpectedly.

Boeing 7E7

The corporation solved its leadership crisis quickly and resolutely by recalling Harry Stonecipher, an experienced Boeing and McDonnell Douglas manager, from retirement to take up appointment as the new President and CEO. Stonecipher made an immediate show of his resolve to lead the company back to success by bringing forward to December 2003 the launch of the offer phase of the new 7E7 Boeing project, originally planned for January 2004, and announcing this at a lavish event in the Washington State Convention Center in Seattle.

The date picked for the announcement, on the eve of the centenary of the first flight by the Wright brothers, was no accident, and Alan Mullaly, Boeing Commercial Airplanes President and Chief Executive Officer, commenting on the anniversary, said, “This is a great way to start the second century of powered flight. It demonstrates our commitment to our customers, our employees and our industry, and it will ensure that Boeing continues its leadership in commercial aviation.”

The Boeing 7E7 is under enormous pressure to succeed, comparable only to the pressure that beset Boeing in the 1960s when it was developing the 747. After the failed attempt to redefine commercial aviation with the Boeing Sonic Cruiser, the company cannot afford another project to fail. Boeing needs a successor for the 757, for which the decision to terminate production has already been taken, and the 767, future examples of which will predominantly be military tanker aircraft. The 7E7 is damned to success.

The calculations that salesmen are now touting around the airlines promise a huge leap forward: using the latest technologies and materials, Boeing is boasting that the 7E7 will set new standards in fuel consumption, reliability, noise emissions and passenger comfort.

But Boeing cannot rely solely on its own strengths, it will have to trust its technology partners as well. Thus, the engines will play a critical role in achieving the stated goals; yet in the past, for example on the MD-11 and the Airbus A318, there was considerable embarrassment when it turned out that fuel consumption was higher than originally calculated.

On the other hand, the willingness to assume risk has paid off in the past, whether on the Boeing 747 or the Airbus A320. The technology advances that were associated with both programmes have proved beneficial to all those involved, from the manufacturers and airlines through to their customers, the passengers and freight customers. Competition and the pressure to succeed are the major drivers behind technological advances. Boeing has shown in the past that it can rise to great heights under pressure. If the 7E7 is a success, the pressure that is currently weighing down on Boeing will pass back to Airbus.

From page 4 of FLUG REVUE 2/2004

Last updated 10 January 2004

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