By Stephen Trimble & Graham Warwick
Some suppliers are seeking to delay plans to develop a single-aisle replacement aircraft by two to three years despite new pleas from airline customers for a faster turnaround.
Dennis Huff, a project scientist for NASA’s subsonic fixed-wing project, says potential industrial partners are pushing back plans to replace the Airbus A320 and Boeing 737. “Early on we were looking at 2012, now it is more realistically 2015,” he says. “We are entering partnerships with industry, and hearing from them ranges of 2014-15.”
All-new
The delay is not likely to sit well with some airline chief executives, who are demanding delivery of the all-new narrowbody much sooner.
“We are encouraging manufacturers and engine producers to launch new narrowbodies to replace the company’s fleet,” United Airlines executive vice-president and chief financial officer Jake Brace told delegates last week at a Merrill Lynch Global Transportation Conference in New York. “There are no plans to place orders for current technology narrowbodies.”
United needs to start replacing its oldest 737s, which are 18 years old, with a new fleet in 2013-14. United is not alone in its interest of new-technology narrowbodies. AirTran Airways recently ordered 15 737-700s to bridge the delivery gap until a new design is available.
“Our view is that a new airplane will probably come out at 2014, so this order gives us a steady stream of deliveries for 2011 and 2012 that will tide us over until there is a new product,” says AirTran chief financial officer Stan Gadek.
Source: Flight Daily News
