Boeing lining up Sonic Cruiser suppliers

Published 9:00 pm Thursday, January 24, 2002

Herald staff

Boeing plans to bring together potential key suppliers to work on the Sonic Cruiser, the company announced Thursday.

"By working together from the earliest days of the program, we will be able to bring forward the best technical solutions and the best business case for the Sonic Cruiser," said Jeff Luckey, the director of supplier management for the Sonic Cruiser program.

The company plans to announce which suppliers — and potential partners — will be on the development team during the first half of 2002, he said.

The process will be much similar to that used to design and build the 777, Boeing spokeswoman Lori Gunter said. The difference is that Boeing is calling in outside help much earlier in the process with the Sonic Cruiser, because the technology will be much more advanced.

That list won’t necessarily reflect any decisions about who will do design or manufacturing work on the plane — or where, the company said.

"We’re not talking about you get the brakes and you get the tires, you get the front door and you get the back door," Gunter said.

"It is too early in the program to place design or manufacturing work," Luckey said. "Right now, our focus is on technologies."

Boeing’s Sonic Cruiser design team is now based in Everett, but the company has not committed to build the plane here.

Boeing officials had targeted a late 2002 launch date for the cruiser program, but Chairman Phil Condit said Wednesday that it now is in flux, given the post-Sept. 11 airline crisis.

"It is clearly different than it was," Condit said. "It depends a lot on the airline customers."