Originally Posted by
vikingivesterled
That is the Reuters article, and another websites referal to it, I looked at wen when this was discussed on the "Boeing to cut 10%" thread.
"Any replacement would have slightly more range and seats, with one source nicknaming it “757-Plus” " was seen to be a reference to that 757-Plus was an internal workname used in Boeing.
No where does it say the anonymous source was Boeing, or someone inside Boeing. And even if it was, any internal designations at this point are pretty much meaningless - the aircraft that became the 777 was initially called the the "767-X".
There is more to this than can just be brushed off due to missing tooling. It can't all have been lost. The plane is still flying and one can still get spares. You can be sure the plans haven't gone missing.
No, the tooling is long gone (except for some of the fuselage stuff common to the 737). The really expensive stuff is for the wing and that was the first to go to make space for expanded 737 production. Heck, most of the tooling for the C-17 is gone, and it's only been out of production for a few years. If you need primary structure for an existing 757, you'll probably have to go to the boneyard, or find someone that has the expertise to make one-off stuff. Yes, the drawings still exist, but not in the form necessary for 21st Century production methods. Developing and producing the tooling and manufacturing for a new aircraft costs a fortune - often more than the total engineering and development costs. Besides, you're still going to need a new wing and engines or you're going to end up with the same operating economics of a 737NG but with a bit more range... Avionics will nearly all need to be replaces simply because you simply can't buy avionics that were designed 40 years ago - keeping the avionics in the existing 757/767 fleet going is a never ending battle because nobody makes the components that were used 40 years ago.