Boeing confirms it will finish building 747s in 2022, when last freighter flies off the production line
- Reference: 1596088924
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2020/07/30/747_production_ends_in_2022/
- Source link:
The aerospace company today posted $16.9bn of revenue for Q2, down 26 percent year on year thanks to a certain virus and the ongoing 737MAX mess. Commercial airplane shipments fell to 50, down from the 149 that flew away in 2019’s corresponding quarter.
On the company’s earnings call president and CEO David Calhoun said Boeing expects to produce commercial craft at a slower rate for years to come. 737s are being made in very low numbers but Boeing said it has budgeted for the troubled 737 MAX to be certified to resume flying in Q4 2020, so some of the backlog of planes it has already built will ship then. By late 2022 31 737s a month should again be flying out of factories. 787 production has been slowed to six a month, down from a planned ten. The debut of the forthcoming 777X has been delayed until the year 2022 but the current 777 is still rolling off the production line at the rate of about 2.5 planes a month. But Boeing will slow that to two a month in 2021, down by one from previous plans.
After discussing all of the abovementioned models, Calhoun turned his attention to the 747, and delivered the following news.
“On the 747, we will continue building 747s at the current rate as we deliver on our commitments to key customers. In light of the current market dynamics and the outlook, we anticipate completing production of the iconic 747 in 2022.”
Yep, you read that right: the last 747 will be built in 2022.
The last of its type will almost certainly be a freighter, because Boeing has had no orders for the passenger version of the 747-8 for years and has already delivered the two 747-8-based airframes that will become the next Air Force One.
Boeing’s [1]order data says that as of June 30th 2020 the company had contracts to build another dozen 747s and is producing them at the rate of one every two months. The math isn’t hard: if Boeing gets them all built on time that 2022 end-of-build date would be comfortably met.
Which would be sad because the economies of scale the 747 offered made international travel accessible to many around the world. However the end of the line was not unexpected because the four-engine 747 is considerably more expensive to operate than more modern twin-engine models like the 777 and A350 that can match it for range and capacity. Airlines generally find that they can only fly passengers profitably in a 747 when the plane is just-about full, and with the COVID-19 pandemic suppressing demand for the kind of long-haul routes the 747 serves there’s little chance they’ll fly full for the foreseeable future. Hence the decision the likes of British Airways and QANTAS to [2]immediately retire their fleets.
Airbus to build plane that's even uglier than the A380 [3]READ MORE
The demise of the 747 even in freighter format also signals that there’s little demand for one thing the 747 freighter can do that rivals can’t – carry large cargo thanks to its use if a nose door. Clearly freight carriers think the world’s current fleet of 747 freighters and Antonovs can meet demand for that kind of gig for the foreseeable future.
Boeing CEO Calhoun noted that plenty of 747s will fly for the foreseeable future and the company therefore still has plenty of 747-related work ahead of it. Indeed, the remaining freight feet is likely to be very busy as the COVID-19 pandemic has greatly increased demand for air freight. ®
Get our [4]Tech Resources
[1] https://investors.boeing.com/investors/fact-sheets/default.aspx
[2] https://www.theregister.com/2020/07/17/british_airways_747_axed/
[3] https://www.theregister.com/2016/05/20/airbus_to_build_plane_thats_even_uglier_than_the_a380/
[4] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Re: Sad to see the queen of the sky’s go but won’t be flying in a 737 Max
I suspect once the 737 Max goes back into service MCAS will be the safest system on the plain it'll have had so much scrutiny. However I wonder what other systems Boeing has cut costs on in that aircraft that haven't been checked out so I wouldn't be happy flying in one either. Not that I'm a fan of the 737 in general , its cramped and showing its airframe design age.
Re: Sad to see the queen of the sky’s go but won’t be flying in a 737 Max
Only pushing the certification rules to its limits brought about the 737 problem, the Max is virtually a new aircraft.
Both 737 and 747 were 1960s engineering that formed the platform for continued update and improvement for decades and outlasted their Lockheed and McDonnell-Douglas rivals. In the 1960s engineers at Boeing were able to come up with such robust designs that were solidly businesslike and pragmatic and out and out market leaders.
You might say that 787 is of the same ilk, but it is so dependent on tech that it somehow feels like a more delicate bird. I do think that modern engineers could learn from that 1960s approach.
Re: Sad to see the queen of the sky’s go but won’t be flying in a 737 Max
"I do think that modern engineers could learn from that 1960s approach."
IANAE, but I think the 1960s was great for mechanical engineering, but it will only get you so far. None of the designs of that era is good enough for new expectations of efficiency and noise levels. For that you need a merging of mechanical and electronics engineering, so we are in a <1940s era, where we are yet to perfect this approach.
Re: Sad to see the queen of the sky’s go but won’t be flying in a 737 Max
I'm not talking about pure turbojets and hydraulic actuators. When I said that I was talking about those aircraft as a platform for continued development, which is what they became over the decades. Of course only a stretched version of the airframe confguration survives and the latest versions off the line have totally different specs in everything from avionics to engines, but it remains that nothing from their contemporary rivals survives.
It is the foresight of those 60s engineers to design such a platform that might be learned from.
Grandfather Rights
"Both 737 and 747 were 1960s engineering that formed the platform for continued update and improvement for decades and outlasted their Lockheed and McDonnell-Douglas rivals. In the 1960s engineers at Boeing were able to come up with such robust designs that were solidly businesslike and pragmatic and out and out market leaders."
I think it's far more that, despite there being not a single common component with the original aircraft, they still have grandfather rights for certification. From top to bottom, these aircraft types have design choices that wouldn't be permissible were they being certified from scratch: for example, the passengers in the nose of a 747 have only one escape route, backwards. Other types such as the A320, have grandfather rights too, but they don't go back to the 1960s.
I’ll miss her but...
... I hadn’t really appreciated just how loud it is inside and on both top and bottom decks of a 747-400 until I flew on my first (maybe last) A380 last year.
Outbound to LAX on the Queen, I hardly shut my eyes and arrived with a throbbing headache (which an hours evening peak drive on the 405 didn’t help). Homeward bound on the pretender to the throne, I slept like a log and woke up as we approached Blighty genuinely refreshed.
The 747 carried a lot of poise and looked sleek from the outside but inside was showing its age, however the A380 looks fat and ungainly outside but has one of the best cabin experiences.
My last flight on a 747 was only a result of the airline changing from the originally booked 787. Little did I know it would be my actual last flight on one.
Farewell big girl. You’ve served the world well. Enjoy your rest.
Older 737s have problems too
Pre-MAX 737s have a problem after being stored for a while
Potential twin engine failure
https://rgl.faa.gov/Regulatory_and_Guidance_Library/rgad.nsf/0/ec0e5875b315e9e5862585ae007cd448/$FILE/2020-16-51_Emergency.pdf
Re: Older 737s have problems too
"Pre-MAX 737s have a problem after being stored for a while"
That's not really a problem. There hasn't been any worldwide event causing lots of planes to be stored for a while, so this shouldn't come up.
Flying wings/bodies
I wonder whether at some point we will actually see flying wing or body configurations for pax and cargo airplanes. We have been kinda doing the 'tube with wings' design for the better part of a hundred years now, with very little variation on this theme.
Airplanes like the B2 have shown that the principle of flying wing works. A cargo version could be pretty neat, while also ticking the boxes for efficiency and noise profiles. A pax version might be trickier, due to fewer windows, but that's something which cargo does not care much for.
I have seen some concept designs from various manufacturers zip by the past decades, but so far nothing concrete yet. Anyone knows whether we can expect something here within the next hundred years? :)
Re: Flying wings/bodies
TBH, windows are highly over rated. Except for some of those making their first flights and a few others, the vast majority of passengers - esp on long haul - know there is bugger all to see most of the time, and are just looking forward to getting off at the other end.
A plane with no windows, or just a few in a 'viewing area', or where they can charge extra for those for whom looking out is a big deal, would be cheaper to build, sounder structurally, and the majority of passengers would be quite happy, only a small proportion of seats have a window even now.
Sad to see the queen of the sky’s go but won’t be flying in a 737 Max
Sad to see the queen of the sky’s go but won’t be flying in a 737 Max. I’ll be checking if the airline has Max’s and will fly an alternate if I have to. I think easy jet is airbus only, Ryan air had a huge order for Max’s. BA’s owners indicated intent to buy Max’s but has none.
I flew tui to menorca the other year, fulfilled by Norwegian in what I think was a Max, comfy for a small commercial jet but I’ll be making sure I know the airframe before booking.
I don’t mind the non Max 737’s.
https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/boeing-737-max-plane-crash-ethiopian-airlines-lion-air-ryanair-faa-a9261701.html