737, Boeing’s Narrow Body Workhorse, May Get Engine Upgrade

The reception that Bombardier’s fuel-saver C series is getting at the international air show, Farnborough, has Boeing and Airbus agreeing on one thing. Bombardier has got to go.

The Financial Times quotes John Leahy, chief of sales for Airbus, as saying:

If Airbus offers a new engine option and Boeing offers a new engine option on their 737, there is absolutely no business case for the CSeries at all. It ceases to exist at that point.

Both Airbus and Boeing are signaling–to potential buyers at Farnborough–that they are ready to move now on fuel efficiency if that’s what customers need. Both the A320 and 737 models have been long-lived cash cows, and the airplane manufacturers have been waiting for a “Great Leap Forward” in engine design before committing to a major reworking. (Bombardier is predicting a 20 percent reduction in fuel use, and says its Pratt & Whitney engines will be four times quieter.)

---

Leahy mentioned September as a possible time for decision between “simply” adding new engines or redesigning the A320. According to the Boeing Twitter account, Commercial Airplanes CEO Jim Albaugh says, “our focus is extending 737, 777 and making them more efficient,” and “decision on 737 most likely this Fall.”

---

Even if the decision is to strap on new engines–Boeing only has a choice between two, as Dominic Gates reports–the 737s lowriderwinger profile makes attaching the larger engines a redesign project in itself: “Wing and landing-gear modifications would be greater and the diameter of the engine might have to be slightly smaller than is possible for the A320.”

Still, that beats the logistical fun of building a new plastic plane. (Boeing flew a 787 to Farnborough, but Albaugh also had to announce that flight testing had revealed a few issues that would likely delay delivery a little more, into early 2011.) Either way, it could be very good news for Boeing workers locally, as Renton is where 737s are born.