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Cost-conscious airlines want a plane that burns less fuel, not one that flies faster than sound, the company says.
Compiled from Times wires
© St. Petersburg Times, published December 21, 2002
Acknowledging that the world's beleaguered airlines now prefer fuel efficiency to speed, Boeing Co. confirmed Friday that it is dropping its planned superfast Sonic Cruiser in favor of a jet that uses up to 20 percent less fuel than current models.
Boeing Commercial Airplanes chief executive Alan Mulally said that while airlines had shown interest in the high-tech cruiser, they felt the fuel-efficient plane was more important.
"The real key is going to be the efficiency in terms of fuel burn," Mulally said. "Everybody is behind us. . . . The airlines' response has been very enthusiastic."
Although no orders have been received for either plane, Mulally said Boeing estimates the eventual market for the as-yet unnamed mid-sized jet could reach 2,000 to 3,000 jets over its lifetime.
The Sonic Cruiser project, announced in March 2001, was envisioned as a mid-sized jet carrying about 250 passengers that could travel near the speed of sound and shave two or three hours off international flights. The concept was unveiled as Boeing shelved previous plans to develop a larger version of the 747 jumbo jet.
Both the Sonic Cruiser and the larger 747 were to counter European competitor Airbus, which is developing its own 555-seat jumbo jet.
The twin-engine cruiser, with its huge triangular wing, twin vertical fins and small canards or forward wings, would be one of the most radical designs in the history of commercial aviation.
But even though the plane wouldn't have started flying before 2008, the timing proved bad as airlines struggled to stay in business amid the worst downturn in commercial aviation history.
"The sonic cruiser sounded like a great innovation. One suspects its time could still come, but its time is not now," said George Hamlin, senior vice president of Global Aviation Associates, a consulting firm in Washington.
Boeing's decision "shows they're more attuned to the market's needs than they are to producing whatever they could invent."
On Friday, Boeing reiterated the company's statement in October that commercial jet deliveries are expected to remain depressed into 2004, at about 275 to 285 planes, the same as those expected in 2003. Boeing anticipates delivering about 380 planes in 2002, down from 527 in 2001.
Boeing has slashed production from 48 jets a month to 24 a month, cut 30,000 jobs and announced 5,000 more reductions for 2003. It also has deferred deliveries for more than 500 jets -- a year's worth of production.
Passenger air travel dropped sharply just months after the announcement of the Sonic Cruiser, particularly after the Sept. 11 attacks.
Now, with US Airways and United Airlines in bankruptcy and passengers still not boarding planes in the same numbers they once did, the airline industry is looking for ways to cut costs.
Chicago-based Boeing's new mid-sized aircraft would be "superefficient in terms of noise, emission, fuel burn and operating efficiency," Mulally said, adding that Boeing will continue to "look at" the Sonic Cruiser.
"We've looked at speed forever, but we're going to move the vast majority of our attention and resources to the superefficient airplane," Mulally said.
The new airplane, which is expected to be in service in 2008, does not yet have a name.
Mulally declined to say how much the new jet would cost to produce, but said, "We don't start spending big dollars for two or three years." The first couple of years will be spent getting the jet's configuration right, he said.
The time frame is the same as that of the Sonic Cruiser, which Boeing officials decided to shelve last week, Mulally said.
Boeing has said it can incorporate some of the technologies developed for the Sonic Cruiser, such as lighter-weight materials, in the other plane.
Boeing won't necessarily build and assemble the jet in Washington state's Puget Sound region, Mulally said. Boeing has long complained about Washington state's business climate and traffic problems, while other states and regions dangle tax breaks and other incentives.
Analysts have long speculated that the company would mothball the Sonic Cruiser and go with the traditional plane. They estimate development could cost around $10-billion while a more traditional plane would be much less.
Shares of Boeing stock closed up 46 cents a share at $32.71 Friday on the New York Stock Exchange.
-- Information from the Chicago Tribune, Associated Press and Bloomberg News was used in this report.