New Boeing “-5X” Airliner (AW&ST)

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According to a new article from Aviation Week and Space Technology (behind a paywall), Boeing is almost ready to commit to an all-new Airbus A321XLR competitor.

• Composite construction
• Dual Aisle
• Roughly 250-275 seats
• Estimated range of 5,000 nm.
• Based on many elements of the “NMA” plane they were working on.
• Potentially ready at the end of the 2020s
 
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Sounds like the 797 will be at least 6 years behind the XLR.
But it will have 10 - 35 % more passenger capacity than the XLR, so not a "direct" competitor.
It will give the US government a path to replace the aging 757 fleet they run, at times used as AF1 or AF2.
Doubt very much they would have gone to Airbus. Like zero chance.
 
Sounds like the 797 will be at least 6 years behind the XLR.
But it will have 10 - 35 % more passenger capacity than the XLR, so not a "direct" competitor.
It will give the US government a path to replace the aging 757 fleet they run, at times used as AF1 or AF2.
Doubt very much they would have gone to Airbus. Like zero chance.
Airbus is now assembled in Alabama. It might become political issue eventually.
 
With the financial impacts upon Boeing over the last couple years and the slow recovery if the airline industry, I'd think the last thing they'd want to do is pour tons of their own money into R&D of a new aircraft anytime soon.
 
Boeing has failed to adequately plan for the 757 replacement since stopping production twenty years ago.

NMA was on again, off again, then it was the 797, then it was kicked around, waffled over, with no commitment, no $$, and ultimately, no strategic plan, as Boeing product salesmen and accountants, not engineers, and certainly not people with vision, decided the 737 could do it all. Utter stupidity.

There is a big market for a 200-250 seat airplane with Atlantic range. The Max is not the answer. The 787 is a bit too big for some city pairs. Right in between the biggest 737, and the smallest 787, is the sweet spot for many city pairs.
 
New airliners will need separate compartments that seat maybe 4 maximum for family's etc. each compartment needs its own air supply too, and can be a safety ejection module with its own parachute and flotation system, a special covid design plane.
No more fuel burning turbines allowed either, something else for power will have to be devised.
How well does that composite hold up in the middle east heat, and upper atmosphere freeze? Any good data on that?
Just because its something we never hear about doesn't mean its all just peachy cool. We also never hear about major cracking in jet engine combustors either, that doesn't mean they don't have them.
 
New airliners will need separate compartments that seat maybe 4 maximum for family's etc. each compartment needs its own air supply too, and can be a safety ejection module with its own parachute and flotation system, a special covid design plane.
No more fuel burning turbines allowed either, something else for power will have to be devised.
How well does that composite hold up in the middle east heat, and upper atmosphere freeze? Any good data on that?
Just because its something we never hear about doesn't mean its all just peachy cool. We also never hear about major cracking in jet engine combustors either, that doesn't mean they don't have them.
Go back to figuring out how wings work.
 
Astro,

Why isn’t the smaller 787 considered a 757 replacement ?

I agree Boeing was run into the ground by MBAs with zero aviation expertise.
Some airlines do not want any 787 built in Charleston, SC.

From Bloomberg:
”Walt Odisho, a former Toyota executive who has overseen manufacturing quality and safety, will take charge of the 737 program as Boeing restarts Max production.”


Boeing could not find someone with an aviation engineering (civilian or military) background and vast knowledge to oversee 737 program ????

:unsure:
 
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Astro,

Why isn’t the smaller 787 considered a 757 replacement ?

I agree Boeing was run into the ground by MBAs with zero aviation expertise.
Some airlines do not want any 787 built in Charleston, SC.

From Bloomberg:
”Walt Odisho, a former Toyota executive who has overseen manufacturing quality and safety, will take charge of the 737 program as Boeing restarts Max production.”


Boeing could not find someone with an aviation engineering (civilian or military) background and vast knowledge to oversee 737 program ????

:unsure:

Shedding those long term Boeing employees a few years ago with the vast knowledge for short term balance sheet gains turned out to be very expensive for Boeing.
An Airbus import would have probably caused too much internal friction.
The Toyota choice was probably the best internally and externally acceptable option.
 
The A321XLR’s range is made possible by introducing internal fuselage fuel tanks that conform to the shape of the fuselage. In other words, they aren’t separate tanks like used in the fuselage of some current Airbus models, but the exterior of the fuselage is the exterior of the tank, like the wings of most aircraft.

There’s considerable debate now about how safe an approach this is. In the period open for public comments, Boeing and others have questioned what could occur in an off-runway excursion, landing gear collapse, etc. (And before Boeing-haters jump on, keep in mind that Airbus has done the same thing with Boeing designs.)

So, bottom line is that the A321XLR could be delayed while engineering is developed to satisfy these concerns and it works its way through regulators. A delay of a year or two could create an additional opening for a new aircraft like a B797 as some airlines may want to wait and leapfrog current technology. Things may not be great at Boeing at the moment, but it has no choice but to keep its lineup fresh and develop a 757/767 replacement.
 
Shedding those long term Boeing employees a few years ago with the vast knowledge for short term balance sheet gains turned out to be very expensive for Boeing.
An Airbus import would have probably caused too much internal friction.
The Toyota choice was probably the best internally and externally acceptable option.
Actually, the "Older Engineer, Experienced Engineer" purge began about 2005 when Boeing appointed former Marketing and Financial types to management positions. Prior to that Scientists/Engineers had come up through the ranks to later became managers. Don't ask me how I know. :oops:

BTW, many of Boeings airframes or major parts of their airframes are now made at the Spirit Aerosystems facility in Wichita, Ks, which are then shipped by rail and or truck to Renton and Everett, Wa., for final assembly.



Boeing sold a majority of their former office buildings and manufacturing facilities to Spirit when they made another stupid decision to migrate to Oklahoma and Texas.
 
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