Boeing says it could end 747 production
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Well, we could all agree that someone had to create a full on double decker one day and they did. Has it been a success like the 747 in its time? No. Will we see more orders of the aircraft in the future? Yes but not at the 747's rate. Why? Learn from history. When the 747 first came out, Boeing was about to scrap the whole thing altogether before the boom of 747 cargo and flight ops to come.
I feel Airbus needs a NEO a380 and make the plane more efficient AND add more pax/cargo load. A huge stretch but unless this happens even EK will bow out future orders.
Speaking of stretch, Boeing doesn't need to worry about continuing its 747 program or compete with the A380 at all, they have the best twin in the 777X coming up. Make a stretch and worse comes to worse you'll lose the odd 50-100 orders the a380 will get if you don't make a 4 engine.
I heard Boeing will end the 737 program after the MAX (might be another decade and some), most likely Airbus will as well with the a320 then. It feels like the a310/757 will make a comeback and i wouldn't be surprised if after 10 years, we see Boeing announce a new air-frame 737/757 variant and Airbus the same with their a320/a321.
The market so far has been 737/787/777 and /a320/a321a350...sooner or later the airlines would want a stretch/efficient a321/757 to give added range and a more capacity to airlines who don't need a 777/a350 but want something more than a 737/a320.
All in all, its a great time in the industry looking ahead!
I feel Airbus needs a NEO a380 and make the plane more efficient AND add more pax/cargo load. A huge stretch but unless this happens even EK will bow out future orders.
Speaking of stretch, Boeing doesn't need to worry about continuing its 747 program or compete with the A380 at all, they have the best twin in the 777X coming up. Make a stretch and worse comes to worse you'll lose the odd 50-100 orders the a380 will get if you don't make a 4 engine.
I heard Boeing will end the 737 program after the MAX (might be another decade and some), most likely Airbus will as well with the a320 then. It feels like the a310/757 will make a comeback and i wouldn't be surprised if after 10 years, we see Boeing announce a new air-frame 737/757 variant and Airbus the same with their a320/a321.
The market so far has been 737/787/777 and /a320/a321a350...sooner or later the airlines would want a stretch/efficient a321/757 to give added range and a more capacity to airlines who don't need a 777/a350 but want something more than a 737/a320.
All in all, its a great time in the industry looking ahead!
Would a twin engine 747 be feasible without a complete redesign?
Just strap on a couple of big Trents, and have each engine run two hyd pumps, etc., to run all the systems, like the A330.
Presumably not, otherwise they would have done it.
.
Just strap on a couple of big Trents, and have each engine run two hyd pumps, etc., to run all the systems, like the A330.
Presumably not, otherwise they would have done it.
.
A pair of the most powerful Trent variant would produce about 75% of the 747-8's installed thrust.
Perhaps if they narrowed and shortened the fuselage, removed the hump, scaled down the wing, etc ...
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An early concept for the 747 advanced (which eventually became the -8) was for inboard GE90s and outboard CF6-80C2s
. Fortunately that died.
Since engine thrust is based on "engine out" requirements, it would take a ~200,000 lb thrust class engine if you want to retain the same MTOW as the 747-8..
HH, Boeing is supposedly at the point this year where it's costing less to build a 787 than they're selling them for (finally - only line number 450 to get there
). So it's at least looking like the 787 won't be a big money pit.
Airbus is into the A380 something like 20 billion, and while they are finally to the point where they're getting positive cash flow on new production, that's not going to last as they're dropping production down to 1/month. When Airbus launched the A380, they predicted a market for 1,200 VLA between 2007 and 2027. Half way there, barely 300 total A380s and 747-8s have been delivered, with total outstanding orders for ~150 more (many of which are soft).
Is spending another ~5 billion on a A380 neo - so far with only one interested customer - a good business decision or good money after bad?
. Fortunately that died.
Would a twin engine 747 be feasible without a complete redesign?
HH, Boeing is supposedly at the point this year where it's costing less to build a 787 than they're selling them for (finally - only line number 450 to get there
). So it's at least looking like the 787 won't be a big money pit.Airbus is into the A380 something like 20 billion, and while they are finally to the point where they're getting positive cash flow on new production, that's not going to last as they're dropping production down to 1/month. When Airbus launched the A380, they predicted a market for 1,200 VLA between 2007 and 2027. Half way there, barely 300 total A380s and 747-8s have been delivered, with total outstanding orders for ~150 more (many of which are soft).
Is spending another ~5 billion on a A380 neo - so far with only one interested customer - a good business decision or good money after bad?
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"HH, Boeing is supposedly at the point this year where it's costing less to build a 787 than they're selling them for"
Agreed - but I hadn't realised they'll need to get to #900 to write off the charegs incurred to date............................. and they also buried two early, unsellable, examples as "R&D" in the same accounts - another $800+ mm of shareholder value gone south
But I think the fact the tanker has cost them more than the original 767 development tells you some things are seriously amiss in Seattle..............
Goingto be a brave man who suggests repalcing the 737 anytime soon
Agreed - but I hadn't realised they'll need to get to #900 to write off the charegs incurred to date............................. and they also buried two early, unsellable, examples as "R&D" in the same accounts - another $800+ mm of shareholder value gone south
But I think the fact the tanker has cost them more than the original 767 development tells you some things are seriously amiss in Seattle..............
Goingto be a brave man who suggests repalcing the 737 anytime soon
Would a twin engine 747 be feasible without a complete redesign?
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HH, rumor mill says the new AF1 747s have already been built. There are a couple white tail 747-8is that were built for a Russian operator that went bust (if you watched some of the Boeing Founders Day celebrations, one was parked behind the stage). The thinking is those will become the new AF1 aircraft.
Doesn't that seem improbable given AF1 requirements for specialized communications and ECM fitment? I imagine an existing 748 would have to be essentially stripped of electrical and IFE systems to be reconfigured to AF1 specifications.
33Mike, they'll need to do that anyway - to do that on the production line would be cost prohibitive - among other things, they'd have to make the whole 747 final production line secure, and the cost of certifying that as an ATC would be horrendous.
What Boeing did on the current generation 747/AF1, they 'delivered' a bare-bones 747 (well, technically two), then did the conversion as an STC. Given the necessary modifications (in addition to communication and any extra EMI hardening, we're talking dual APUs and aerial refueling capability), and how messy it is to certify that sort of thing in production, I can't imagine them doing it as other than an STC.
Student, max 747 production rate was seven/month - we hit that briefly back in the early 1990s for the -400 model.
Down the road are there any big cargo customers with upcoming big fleet renewal needs and plans that might consider to order major numbers of 747-8Fs? Like the UPSs or Fedexes of the world? Or have they switched to twins and bellies already?
Who could be a big customer to keep the line going? Is there any big guy on the market looking for pure freighters?
Who could be a big customer to keep the line going? Is there any big guy on the market looking for pure freighters?
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"any big cargo customers with upcoming big fleet renewal needs"
most of them are bleeding cash like there's no tomorrow - they're looking to ditch aircraft not buy more.............................
most of them are bleeding cash like there's no tomorrow - they're looking to ditch aircraft not buy more.............................
Paxing All Over The World
Someone did indeed 'have' to build the VLA and it was always going to be Airbus. Boeing did well to push them towards they decision. When the 74 started it had a slew of unexpected world events that meant it was all at the right time:
For those talking about the single aisle market, don't forget Embraer and similar who are pushing up into the 73 and the 319 markets and, if they sell well, will continue to expand to eat away the lower half of the market.
- First of kind
- Inter-continental travel booming in the post war age
- International freight moving to air
- People becoming 'time poor' and not able to use ships for holiday, the time saving on long haul was an enormous bonus
- Fewer carriers
For those talking about the single aisle market, don't forget Embraer and similar who are pushing up into the 73 and the 319 markets and, if they sell well, will continue to expand to eat away the lower half of the market.
Down the road are there any big cargo customers with upcoming big fleet renewal needs and plans that might consider to order major numbers of 747-8Fs? Like the UPSs or Fedexes of the world? Or have they switched to twins and bellies already?
Who could be a big customer to keep the line going? Is there any big guy on the market looking for pure freighters?
Who could be a big customer to keep the line going? Is there any big guy on the market looking for pure freighters?
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Freight seems to be going twin engine now - Amazon have just leased 40 767 frames and Atlas Air are contracted to provide flight crew etc. (It's a nice livery: This is Amazon?s first ?Prime Air? plane - Recode)
I don't see there being an expansion in the market for the A380, Malaysian are trying to dump theirs as they can't fill them and Thai are struggling with them too apparently. BA seem to codeshare them with every partner airline under the sun in order to fill them! Without Emirates the A380 wouldn't have made any money at all, as it stands it will just about break even... I very much doubt Airbus will make a NEO version, I guess it costs more in development costs than 70 odd A350's. (Although a new order might be on the table: https://www.flightglobal.com/news/ar...cision-426069/)
I guess the 747-8 will experience a small flurry of orders as Boeing announces the demise of the program and that will be it for the 'Queen of the skies'.
I don't see there being an expansion in the market for the A380, Malaysian are trying to dump theirs as they can't fill them and Thai are struggling with them too apparently. BA seem to codeshare them with every partner airline under the sun in order to fill them! Without Emirates the A380 wouldn't have made any money at all, as it stands it will just about break even... I very much doubt Airbus will make a NEO version, I guess it costs more in development costs than 70 odd A350's. (Although a new order might be on the table: https://www.flightglobal.com/news/ar...cision-426069/)
I guess the 747-8 will experience a small flurry of orders as Boeing announces the demise of the program and that will be it for the 'Queen of the skies'.
Amazon have just leased 40 767 frames
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The 747 in it's various forms has been on life support since 2001 when Airbus pulled the plug.
That was the first flight of the A340, and after that date there were practically no more orders for the 747-400. Most airlines bought it for range, not for capacity, and once that range was available at much lower cost and lower capacity, the end of the Jumbo had come. Just like the availability of the long range 777 versions (together with the ETOPS regulations) killed the A340, when all of a sudden you did neither need the capacity nor the number of engines to do the range...
Funny that expectatios have shifted so much. Boeing once predicted the total number of 747 to be built far below the number of A380 already delivered by know. How luckily wrong they have been... Compared to Aircraft like the A310, L1011 or DC-10 the total number of A380 built will be absolutely fine. Businesspeople believe they can sell as many A380s as they have sold A320s. They never will, the market is totally different. The market for high capacity long range aircraft is limited, has always been limited and will be forever. There ist not enough market for several types of such aircraft. Now the much older 747 will die first, and still be remembered as one of the greatest and most succesful aircraft ever.
I suppose you mean 1991 ?
That was the first flight of the A340, and after that date there were practically no more orders for the 747-400.
That was the first flight of the A340, and after that date there were practically no more orders for the 747-400.
