Originally Posted by
WHBM
Unfortunately, by the time any new aircraft is authorised, designed, produced and delivered most of those will be gone, certainly from the first line operators who would be likely to order new aircraft. Meanwhile the fleets are already reducing by the month, and many have replacements already in hand. Of the just four current operators who have more than 50 in their fleet, two are cargo carriers, not an immediate target.
The B787-8 was announced in the late 1990s, as Boeing found sales of the 767 had peaked. Wall Street has already invested in that replacement of the 767 15-20 years ago. They will surely ask why cough up for a second such target market, and will it really still be there ?
Airlines have not "replaced" 767s with 787s - the two types are some way apart in both size and range.
Yes, it's true that by the time the MMA comes into service, most of the current 767 pax fleet will have moved on, but that only means that airlines will then have a 767-sized gap in their fleets which they are working around with either larger or smaller aircraft, neither of which are ideally suited to the MMA's mission.
I stand by my comment that the MMA will fly many routes and schedules that are today operated by the B763. So in that sense, it will indeed be a replacement for it.