Boeing in Paris

Boeing Co. officials aren’t looking to make too many big splashes as the Paris Air Show gets under way this week.

The international air show often has been the platform for major announcements, like the signing of large orders or the launching of a new aircraft.

But Boeing already has

said it won’t make an announcement on the future of its Renton-built 737 at the show. And the Chicago-based jet maker doesn’t save up orders to reveal at the show like it accuses rival Airbus of doing. Instead, analysts expect a modest number of orders to be announced by Boeing.

Earlier this

month, Boeing officials gave journalists an overview of its air show plans:

747-8

Boeing’s biggest presence at the air show, physically at least, will be in the form of two 747-8 aircraft, a passenger plane and a freighter.

Earlier this week, Boeing announced that the freighter will fly to France on fuel that contains 15 percent camelina, a plant used as a rotation crop with dry wheat. It will be the first commercial jet to make a transatlantic flight using biofuel.

Both 747-8s are in flight testing.

As of early June, it was 92 percent of the way through flight testing on its 747-8 freighter, said Elizabeth Lund, general manager of the 747 program. The passenger plane is about 25 percent of the way through flight testing, Lund said.

“We really can see the finish line,” she added.

Lund acknowledged that first delivery of the 747-8 freighter, which was expected by mid-year, might slide until “later this summer.” In fact, Lund said it will be a race to see whether Boeing delivers its first 787 or first 747-8 freighter first.

With carriers like Hong Kong Airlines expected to place orders for Airbus’ A380 in Paris, industry observers will be watching for 747-8 orders, particularly for the passenger version, which is called the Intercontinental. The company has about 109 orders for both models through the end of May, but only 33 are for passenger planes.

“We believe for most airlines we have the superior product,” Lund said.

787

Two years ago, Boeing officials were adamant their delayed Dreamliner would fly shortly after the Paris Air Show wrapped up. The show is held every other year, alternating with the Farnborough Air Show outside London. Within weeks of the 2009 show in Paris, however, Boeing announced yet another embarrassing delay to the 787 program. This year, Boeing will go in discussing the first delivery and subsequent production ramp up of its fuel-efficient Dreamliner jet, which as been in flight testing since Dec. 15, 2009.

“We are making great progress toward certification,” Scott Fancher, general manager of Boeing’s 787 program, said at the briefing.

A few steps stand between Boeing and its first delivery. Boeing has to finish functionality and reliability testing, where the jet is operated as if it were in service with an airline. The company also needs to complete extended twin-engine operations, testing to prove the jet can be flown long distances. During extended operations testing, Boeing purposely will make multiple systems on the 787 fail in order to show that the aircraft can keep flying, Fancher said. The company begins that testing this month.

When testing is through, Boeing will submit the last of its documentation to the Federal Aviation Administration. The FAA still has to sign off on the 787 as well as review production of the jet.

But “we’ll make the third-quarter delivery” that has been promised, Fancher said.

With a backlog of more than 850 787s and a three-year delay, the company can’t get Dreamliners to customers fast enough. Boeing plans to increase production to 10 787s monthly by 2013, which will be key in securing new orders. However, Boeing officials have been quiet about announcing production milestones for the rate increase.

“Rate ramp-ups are always challenging,” Fancher said.

777

When they announced a rate hike in the 777 last year, Boeing officials were confident the jet would win more orders. It has — winning 66 net orders through the first week of June.

The company recently returned to seven jets monthly on the 777 line in Everett, with the goal of ramping up again to 8.3 aircraft monthly by early 2013. To do that, Boeing will add more automation, said Larry Loftis, who leads the 777 program.

In Paris, Boeing also will be keeping a close eye on Airbus’ challenger for the 777 — the A350-1000. The European company is expected to confirm reports that it and Rolls-Royce will redesign the engine intended on the A350-1000 to make it more competitive with Boeing’s 777.

Airbus initially planned to use the same Rolls engine on its family of A350 aircraft. But customers complained the engine wouldn’t have sufficient power and range on the larger A350-1000. Confirmation of a more powerful A350-1000 engine will give Boeing an idea what it will need to do on the 777.

767

Boeing isn’t ready to throw in the towel yet on its 767 commercial jet. Earlier this year, Boeing won a long-fought battle to land the U.S. Air Force tanker contract and will supply 179 767-based tankers to the government.

“Our future really is the tanker,” said Kim Pastega, general manager of the 767 program.

The company declined to give many details about the tanker, saying the Air Force has asked Boeing not to do so. The first 18 tankers are due to the Air Force by 2017. However, Pastega believes the 767’s commercial life could continue a while longer.

“We still have strong demand coming from our customers,” she said.

737

Industry observers initially thought Boeing would use the air show to announce whether it will come out with an all-new replacement for its popular 737 or put a new engine on the single-aisle aircraft.

While Boeing officials say they’ll provide “clarity” about the 737 in Paris, they’re unlikely to offer detailed plans.

While Boeing waits, it will watch Airbus pick up orders for its A320 new engine option, called the A320 neo, at the air show. Airbus has more than 300 commitments and orders for the A320 neo, which will be delivered in 2015. And it expects to nudge that total up to 500 at the show.

It got a jump on that last week, announcing major A320 orders from two Asian carriers.

Analyst Scott Hamilton recently floated another possibility about Boeing’s 737 plans on his Leeham Co. blog: that Boeing might do both a re-engined 737 and an all-new airplane.

Hamilton’s reasoning for Boeing doing both: “This comes down to production capabilities and remaining competitive with the Airbus A320neo program.”

After Boeing figures out what it will do with the 737, the company has to determine where to do it. Washington officials, including Gov. Chris Gregoire, will be on hand in Paris to keep an eye on possible competing states and to tout Washington’s capabilities.

Tom McCarty, president of the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace, will be joining Gregoire’s effort to promote Washington state as an aerospace center. He said the union has 21,000 of the “most highly skilled engineers and technical workers in the world” and that he wants to promote their skills.