Here are some answers to key questions about the Boeing Co.’s decision to go ahead with the 7E7 and to assemble it in Everett.
It’s Boeing’s next-generation midsized jet. Boeing envisions a family of three planes seating 200 to 250 passengers that will be fuel-efficient enough for them to fly long-distance routes like Los Angeles to Sydney. A 300-passenger version would fly shorter routes.
For Boeing, the decision is huge. It would be the first new jet program since the 777 was launched in the early ’90s, and it would come after the company proposed, but then scrapped, two other jet designs. Executives see the 7E7 as a way to regain moment lost to Airbus by recapturing the growing market for midsize jets.
For the aviation industry, the 7E7 will mark a milestone. The new plane will be the first made mostly of lightweight composite materials. Boeing’s suppliers will build more of the plane than ever before, delivering largely completed sections to the Everett factory, where they will be snapped together in as few as three days. Those suppliers will be partners in the plane, investing up front to develop they sections they build in return for a share of the profits from each one sold.
For Everett, the new jet means 800 to 1,200 Boeing jobs, with the potential of a similar amount of new jobs at companies supplying parts for the Dreamliner. That’s far fewer jobs than in any previous Boeing program, but advocates say that the company’s decision to build the Dreamliner here means Everett will remain a world center for aerospace manufacturing for decades to come.
No. There’s room inside the Everett plant to build the new plane. However, it’s possible some 7E7 suppliers could end up setting up shop in Everett. Economic development officials say some of those companies have been searching for local sites.
Boeing says it will build about 35 percent of the plane in-house. Another 35 percent, including the wings, will come from Japan, and about 25 percent will be built by a joint venture between U.S. supplier Vought and Italian aerospace company Alenia.
The Port of Everett plans to build a barge-loading pier at the base of Japanese Gulch to handle the wings. Boeing also has talked of using a fleet of modified 747s to fly in pieces.
Think fiberglass. Composites are strong, lightweight fibers soaked in high-tech resins. Compared to the aluminum traditionally used to build airplanes, composites are stronger and lighter, and less susceptible to corrosion. It’s also easier to work with large composite pieces than aluminum – aluminum must be milled down into shape, while composites can be built up, layer by layer. The drawback has been cost – Kevlar-based composites cost more than four times as much as aluminum. But advances in composite manufacturing have closed the gap, making it feasible.
Edmonds Community College this fall launched a training program to teach aerospace workers how to handle composites. The Federal Aviation Administration is establishing a new composites research center at the University of Washington.
Yes, according to Boeing, which plans for larger windows and luggage bins inside the 7E7’s cabin. Designers are using a mix of blue lighting, filters and sheer materials to create a sky-like effect in which passengers can’t easily tell how close or far away the ceiling is. In addition, Boeing designers plan to increase the air pressure and humidity inside the cabin, which they think will make passengers more comfortable and reduce sinus problems caused by the desert-dry air inside today’s jet cabins. Boeing has also designed “Dream Lavs” – elaborate new bathrooms – for the Dreamliner.
Boeing will start seeking buyers for the new jet. Once those are in place, a formal decision to launch the 7E7 program would follow within six to nine months. Japanese airlines are reported to be among those interested. So is Emirates, based in the Middle Eastern country of Dubai.
If all goes as planned, production of the first would begin in 2006. The first flight would occur in 2007, and Boeing would deliver its first plane to its launch customer in 2008.
-Bryan Corliss
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