Ready for the long haul

Boeing was out in force at the recent International Paris Airshow held in Le Bourget to explain why it is focusing on the record delivery pace of its aircraft development programmes. The company used the event to provide insights into the development of its newest commercial airplane product – the 787-10 Dreamliner, as well as the 737 MAX and 777X.

According to Scott Fancher, the company's senior vice-president and general manager of Airplane Development, Boeing Commercial Airplanes, Boeing's commercial aircraft development programmes are progressing as planned and are on schedule, with each of the seven development programmes meeting their design and performance targets.

“We began our airplane development organisation some two years ago with the focus on deploying a single management system across all of our development efforts to standardise the way we develop aeroplanes,” begins Fancher. “This allows us to share resources and to migrate to a true common, single management system. We've made great progress and it has allowed us to inject stability and restore confidence in our ability to develop new aeroplanes.

“These management systems were first employed from beginning-to-end on the Dreamliner 787-9, an aeroplane we were able to deliver to our customers ahead of our commitments to them and an aeroplane that meets all the technical performance commitments we've made to our customers. We've continued to use this management system across all of our development activities.”

Covering all the bases

He summed up Boeing's aircraft development mission as meeting customers' expectations – not just how far the aircraft flies, how many seats it has and how much fuel it consumes and the kinds of emissions it has from an environmental aspect, but also from a reliability and maintainability perspective too.

“Our customers need to know that the aeroplane in development will do what we say it will do – this was our focus for the 787-9 and we delivered on these expectations,” he continues. “We also need to deliver value to our customers, so that they can use it as a tool to implement their business levels wherever they are in the world, drive profitability and provide the service to their desired customers. The second aspect is to deliver value to our own production systems.

“Our job is to design aeroplanes that are simple to build and assemble. If they are, it will drive our productivity and quality. The higher our productivity and quality, the better we are able to service the needs in the marketplace. We also want to reduce the risk to Boeing in our development efforts and commitment to our shareholders and employees, and reduce the risk our customers perceive in our ability to deliver on our commitments. The groundwork we made in the 787-9 is serving us well. The simpler our products are, the easier they will be to maintain produce and operate. It's about simplicity, produceability and reliability in the designs we are producing on new aeroplanes.”

Fancher is upbeat about another of Boeing's development programmes - the 737 MAX: 8% more fuel efficient than the Airbus A320neo, more range than the neo and 12 more seats in the heart of the market where it really matters.

“Our Boeing Sky Interior is a really neat experience comprising LED lighting and spaciousness. We took everything we learnt from the 787 experience and applied it to the Sky Interior, so it comes as standard on the 737 MAX. Airlines will be able to utilise this new generation of interiors for a narrow-body aeroplane to better serve their customers.”

Taking performance to the max

He also revealed that all of Boeing's development programmes are on track from a schedule, design and performance perspective. In various phases of development at Boeing are the 737 MAX 8, MAX 9, MAX 7 and MAX 200; the 787-10; and the 777-8X and 777-9X. Each of the seven development programmes is meeting its design and performance targets.

For the 787-10, modelling the development success of the 787-9; 95% design commonality with the 787-9, delivering productivity and cost benefits; Rolls-Royce TEN engine development progressing as planned; 90% design completion on track for this year; pre-production verification is validating 787-10 design and build processes.

On the 737 MAX, 90% of detailed design completed; assembly of the first 737 MAX began on the day originally scheduled three years prior – May 29; CFM LEAP-1B engine development proceeding as planned; design work for the MAX 9, MAX 7 and MAX 200 progressing rapidly.

And for the 777X, preliminary designs have been validated; GE9X engine development progressing well; construction of new production facilities in Everett, Wash. and St. Louis is progressing rapidly; firm configuration targeted for third quarter this year.

“We asked ourselves the simple question: what if airlines cared more about efficiency than range? We looked at the 787-9 and performed a simple ‘stretch' to it of about 15% more passengers. What we ended up with is an aeroplane with amazing economics and with a range that covered over 90% of the wide-bodied structures around the world. We are progressing rapidly with the design and we will hit a 90% drawing release on this aeroplane later this year. All of the statistics around the stability of the design are exactly what we expected: engineering running ahead of schedule heading toward that 90% drawing release.”

Fancher claims that the 787-10 has around 30% better fuel efficiency per seat than the A330, and it's even 10% better than the A350: “This is an aeroplane that our customers realise has outstanding economics and flexibility. It's going to be a great ‘growth' aeroplane for airlines around the world.”

When pressed how Boeing can claim better efficiency figures than its biggest rival - when they essentially have access to the same technologies - Fancher says there are no simple answers, but that Boeing's aeroplanes tend to be more structurally and aerodynamically efficient.

“We have learnt how to use systems design to drive efficiency, which is especially true on the 787 where a portion of its efficiency is actually derived from how we manage the electrical and hydraulic systems on the aeroplane. The design refinements and the use of these technologies are used to extract efficiency for the aeroplane.

“We are also maximising commonality. With over 95% common parts and build plans between the 787-9 and 787-10, we'll have a high degree of commonality driving productivity and quality in our production system. This is a big deal to Boeing, but what about our customers? Think about maintaining the aeroplane in an operating fleet: two sub models with that degree of commonality will drive efficiencies in our customers' maintenance systems too. We're really excited about the commonality we have achieved, as well as the capability and flexibility of the aeroplane.”

Building the dream

Preparations are well under way for the introduction of the 787-10 Dreamliner, which will be built at Boeing's Charleston, South Carolina plant.

“The introduction of the 787-9 into our Charleston plant went very well. Internally, our numbers were exactly in the range we expected for the introduction of a new model,” Fancher concluded. “The 787-10 will endure even less disruption because of its high degree of commonality. We were able to seamlessly introduce the 787-9 into the production system at Charleston and we think this introduction will go even more smoothly.

“We are on track for first delivery in 2018. Like all of our aeroplanes in development, we have positive schedules against our commitments to our customers. Performance on this aeroplane is exactly where we thought it would be. Boeing now offers a great growth opportunity for airlines to fly the 787 today. We started with the 787-8, moved up to the 787-9 and now we offer even greater flexibility with the 787-10.”

The 787-10 will transition to a production rate of 12 aircraft per month in 2016 and 14 per month by the end of the decade. First delivery of the 787-10 is scheduled for 2018. Judging from Fancher's pointed comparison figures between Boeing and its rival's latest offerings, it seems clear that each OEM is playing for percentages in a game where the passenger will be the winner.

www.boeing.com