Forget this plane. Its what they call 'Tossing the dogs a bone'. Boeing loses the Mega jet contest and cancels the ultimate 747 stretch, but how do they tell the shareholders? Heres an idea.. get a concept out of the vault and throw it at the media and tell them it'll take, oh, maybe ten years to get flying. Lets see..
Boeing is going to spend ten years financing an entirely new fuselage/ wing combination out of spite? How many airlines have been clamouring for 'just this kind of aircraft'? How much would a passenger be prepared to spend for less legroom and two hours off a transpacific flight? Not enough I imagine. They are going to go through the entire certification process for a slightly faster 777 with no advance orders?
We're lucky they didnt show an airship by mistake when dusting off the concept de jour.