Pielander said:
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" size="2">The long range point to point idea has thus far failed to catch on.</font>
I don't see this as being accurate at all. Think about the airliner development that's taken place in the last 20 years.
There has been 2 main classes of airliners developed (or significantly enhanced) in this time frame. The 737/757/A320/MD80 series (and perhaps others) which are short haul, small to medium capacity, high cycle airliners, which are the single aisle airliners. The other main class has been the widebody twin aisle airliners, the A300/A310/A330/A340/767/777 airliners. BTW, jumbos and regional jets I consider to be separate classes from these 2 classes.
The widebodies are where most of the R&D effort has been focused for the last decade, and most of these models have been developed for lange range, medium to large capacity, point-to-point transcontinental-transoceanic routes. In this series the model enhancements of the last decade have added more capacity and greater range. In fact some of these models now possess the longest ranges of all airliners, and this has happened precisely because these enhancements were driven by the market demand for long range point-to-point service.
It seems logical to me that the next airliner models appropriate for this market segment should include faster (near transonic) speeds, great range, and capacities similar to the existing widebody fleet. I think however that any new airliners will still need to be fuel efficient, as I think this will remain important for this market segment. After the latest 777 and A340 models enter into service, what would be the next logical step in developing this class of airliners? Something like the "sonic cruiser" would seem logical to me.
Least you think otherwise, the widebody long range, point-to-point airliner is also a highly profitable airliner for both Boeing and Airbus.
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Safe flying to you...
[This message has been edited by Flight Safety (edited 02 April 2001).]