The Biz Buzz - Legacy airlines may start ordering again say Boeing exec

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Wednesday, February 6th, 2008

Legacy airlines may start ordering again say Boeing exec

Posted by John Gillie @ 04:46:38 pm

The high cost of operating big fleets of fuel-inefficient aircraft may force United States airlines to order new fuel-sipping aircraft this year, the president of Boeing's commercial aircraft division predicted today.

Scott Carson told financial analysts at a New York conference that big American airlines may no longer be able to hold out for a new generation aircraft and will order Boeing's 737 instead.

U.S. airlines are operating more than 500 aging MD-80 aircraft, Carson said. With oil prices approaching $90 a barrel, those aircraft are costing those airlines dearly.

Those airlines had hoped to skip the current generation of single-aisle aircraft and order the next generation, said Carson. But that new generation is unlikely to debut until at least 2015 or even later.

The technology to cut fuel use by 15 or 20 percent more may not exist until then, he said.

Boeing is now producing about 30 737s a month and may expand that production if Boeing's suppliers can keep up with the expanded demand, Carson said.

Meanwhile, the Boeing executive said, the company continues to believe that its new schedule for the first flight of the 787 Dreamliner is achievable.

The company now expects to fly the twin-aisle plane for the first time in June, some 10 months later than Boeing had originally planned.

The extra time in assembly is allowing Boeing engineers and pilots to work out any glitches in the plane's flight control software, he said.

Pilots are now flying the eighth generation of that software in flight simulators.

Carson also predicted that Boeing's other big developmental project, a new generation of the venerable 747, is proceeding on schedule.

The freighter version of the 747-8 is expected to roll out early next year. The passenger version will debut about a year later.

Categories: Aerospace

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Marce Edwards is the business editor. She has been at The News Tribune for seven years and has written about technology and big businesses in the South Sound including Weyerhaeuser and Russell. Before moving to Tacoma, she worked at The Idaho Statesman in Boise. She is a Northwest native who likes to garden and refuses to use an umbrella. She lives in Tacoma with her husband and two kids.

C.R. Roberts is a Tacoma native. Before joining The News Tribune, he worked as a freelance writer and part-time cowhand on a cattle ranch in Northern Idaho. He writes about small business, personal finance and other business issues.

John Gillie writes about the aerospace and airline industries, commercial development and consumer issues. During his 30-year-tenure at The News Tribune he has covered issues as diverse as the Native American fishing rights disputes, crime and the courts, the wood products industry and energy. He lived in Tacoma with his family for 25 years, but now lives in Kent because his wife heads a five-state non-profit foundation headquartered in Ballard, and it only seemed a sensible compromise to make considering their workplaces are 40 miles apart.

Kelly Kearsley has been a business reporter at The News Tribune since 2005. She covers the Port of Tacoma and international trade. Being born and raised in Spokane she’s used to living in cities with inferiority complexes and, in fact, prefers it. Prior to working at The News Tribune, she spent three years as a reporter for The Bulletin in Bend, Oregon and another year working stints for The Associated Press and Seattle Times. She graduated from Pacific Lutheran University. She lives in Tacoma with her husband and miniature schnauzer.

Devona Wells has been a reporter for 10 years, starting in Silverdale (where she grew up) then east to the Yakima Valley, down to Bakersfield, Calif., and even further south to Riverside. She primarily covers real estate at the TNT, including housing trends, new projects and consumer-related issues. You can check out Open House, her real estate blog, here.