Originally Posted by
pattern_is_full
Now the question arises - can Boeing afford to develop both a new single-aisle and a new double-aisle at the same time? Does there exist any one design (SA or DA) that can simultaneously handle, via fuselage stretching/shrinking, both ends of the "medium" market? Or other commonalities (757/767-style) that can reduce the total costs of two aircraft designs? And what will be the best choice for the market/economy/world situation of 2030, when the NMA or NMA/NSA actually goes into service?
No crystal ball necessary. They can't. As a matter of fact no aircraft manufacturer on this planet can. And they need a lot more than two airplanes. They have a hole in their range stretching from A220 all the way to 787, which itself is slowing down in sales, plus they need to start working on the 777/X replacement because A350 is very young and is developing, and they have nothing in the top end of that segment. They need FOUR new models. An impossible task.
All that at the time when their engineering base is destroyed by decades of layoffs, their workforce is demoralized, their wallets are empty, and the regulators all over the world don't trust them. And now they have a CEO who needs to climb a college-sized learning curve at 62.