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The 7E7 design has replaced the earlier Sonic Cruiser that was offered as Boeing's answer to the Airbus A380 mega-airliner. In fact, it appears that the Sonic Cruiser, a new generation of high speed subsonic passenger aircraft after the (supersonic) Concorde, existed only in artwork and no engineering had actually taken place. Many commentators suggested it was a trial balloon offered to test the waters for a higher-speed airliner. The design proved to be uninteresting to the airlines, and was generally ignored.
Instead, the Boeing teams turned to efficiency for their new design. The Airbus A320 had proved to be a major shock to the industry when its lower operating costs proved very popular, and many of the smaller airliners like the 737 and MD-80 proved unable to compete. The 7E7 appears to attempt to redress this by introducing a new design in the mid-size class with the same sort of lower operating costs. The 7E7 is designed to be some 10-15% more efficient on general routes than competing designs. The 7E7 is sized to be able to replace both the 757 and 767 on the production lines.
On December 16, 2003, it was announced construction would be done in Everett, Washington, employing 800 to 1,200 people.
On April 6, 20042004 is a leap year starting on Thursday (the link is to a full 2004 calendar), and has also been designated the: International Year of Rice International Year to Commemorate the Struggle against Slavery and its Abolition Elections are to be held in 73 co, Boeing announced that it had selected only two engine types, the General ElectricGeneral Electric Aircraft Engines GEAE is the top supplier of aircraft engines in the world and offers engines for the majority of commercial aircraft. GEAE is part of GE Transportation Systems, itself a major part of the enormous conglomerate General Ele GENXThe GENX (General Electric Next-generation) is an advanced turbofan under development by GE Aircraft Engines primarily for the Boeing 7E7. The GENX and the Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 were selected by Boeing following a run-off between the three big engine man and Rolls-RoyceRolls-Royce plc is the second-largest aircraft engine maker in the world, behind General Electric's GE Aircraft Engines division. Rolls-Royce, an automobile company founded in 1906 by Henry Royce and C. Rolls, produced its first aircraft engine in 1914. Trent 1000Rolls Royce Trent is a family of high-bypass turbofan engine manufactured by Rolls-Royce, developments of the famous Rolls-Royce RB. 211 with thrust ratings spanning between 53,000 to 95,000 lbf (236 to 423 kN). The name has also been used for a number of to power the 7E7. Significantly, this leaves Pratt & WhitneyPratt & Whitney is an American owned aircraft engine manufacturer whose products are widely used in both civil and military aircraft. The company was founded in 1860 by Francis Pratt & Amos Whitney with headquarters in Hartford, Connecticut. As one of the unable to offer one of their own engines to 7E7 customers. Boeing may have wished to rely on two evolved versions of existing engines rather than the higher-risk option of an all new P&W engine. There was also speculation that Rolls-Royce and GE were willing to become risk-sharing partners, while P&W was not.
For the first time in commercial aviation, both engine types will have a standard interface with the aircraft, allowing any 7E7 to be fitted with either a GE or RR engine at any point in time. This is derived from the Boeing's participation in the JSFThe F-35 Joint Strike Fighter JSF is a fighter plane currently in early development by Lockheed Martin (with partners Northrop Grumman and BAE SYSTEMS. The primary customers are the United States armed forces and the United Kingdom ( RN and RAF), but the program with one of its requirements being complete interchangablity of the two engine types, the F135 and F136.
Engine interchangeability makes the 7E7 a far more flexible asset to airlines, allowing them to change from one manufacturer's engine to the other's in light of any future engine developments which conform more closely to their operating profile. The engine market for the 7E7 is estimated $40Bn over the next 25 years.
Any commercial launch of a new airliner can be expected to draw scathing comments from competitors, Boeing's doubt over the A380 and Airbus' mocking of the Sonic Cruiser are recent examples. The 7E7 is no exception, as Airbus' John Leahy has made attempts at refuting all of the claims that Boeing have made for the aircraft. Airbus is of course in no position to start development of a comparable plane, with the ongoing development of the A380, however Airbus might not be in such a dangerous position as they appear. A reduced weight A330-200 (referred to as A330-200Lite) with the 7E7's next generation turbofans (modified to generate bleed air as with the proposed 747 Advanced) would come close to the performance claimed for the Boeing jet. However without the widespread use of composites it would struggle to meet the potential savings on operating costs of the 7E7. Airbus does claim however that these potential savings would be offset slightly by up to 4% more drag than the A330-200 because of the wider fuselage. Nevertheless, by the middle of 2004 rumours began to mount that Airbus was ready to publicly announce that it was developing a potential challenger to the 7E7—rumored to be called the A350.