Dave Calhoun, CEO of Boeing, indicated that he does not consider it necessary -at least for now- to launch the company’s expected New Midsize Airplane (NMA).
He said that, at least for the time being, he will not pursue the development program for the maker’s new aircraft, despite the insistence of major industry players. According to Calhoun, Boeing is “at least a few years away” from launching its new model, with which it would seek to challenge Airbus’s growing sales advantage in the single-aisle market.
Several of the U.S. planemaker’s most significant customers (including Steven Udvar-Hazy, founder of Air Lease Corp.) have been clamoring for the manufacturer to get the ball rolling on the design of its new family of aircraft, which Calhoun unveiled some time ago. As reported by the Seattle Times, to justify his refusal, the executive pointed out that the engines the new aircraft would require “do not exist”. For this reason, he is not willing “to commit to a new and costly development program” until progress is made with the next generation of powerplants.
New technologies
Calhoun is confident that new digital development tools will revolutionize aircraft design and construction within the next few decades. However, it will be “at least a couple of years” before he can be confident that these tools are mature enough to be implemented in the development program for its next commercial airplane.
Boeing has been implementing such technologies in defense programs (such as the T-7 trainer aircraft). However, during a conference held on Friday, June 3, Calhoun warned that they are “not mature enough to be implemented in the development of passenger airplanes”. Only “when they reach a sufficient degree of development and maturity will we design our next aircraft,” he said. “We will not do it the other way around.”
