Andrew Doyle/SEATTLE
New Boeing Commercial Airplanes president, Alan Mulally, has pledged to get the manufacturer's troubled airliner production lines back on track within the next 12 months as part of what he calls his "better plan" for restoring the company's flagging profitability.
Mulally, brought in to replace Ron Woodard, who was removed from the top job in September, is also promising an overhaul of Boeing's product development strategy to better serve the requirements of airlines.
His comments come as British Airways, a prime candidate to launch Airbus' A3XX large aircraft programme, has publicly criticised Boeing's plans to develop a stretched version of the 747 as "not an adequate step forward".
Giving one of his first interviews since taking the helm at Commercial Airplanes, Mulally says: "The most important part of the 'better plan' is to get the production process back in sequence. That's the foundation.
"Our parts shortages are coming down and the out-of-sequence work is getting better," he adds. "We are getting to a place where we can deliver the aircraft on schedule. The problem is that it's costing us a lot of money." The production problems, he says, should be solved in "another year or so".
The second part of Mulally's "better plan" involves re-evaluating the company's product development spending. This will "really focus on which new aircraft the airlines need and when", he says.
BA officials, meanwhile, who were in Seattle last week to celebrate the delivery of the airline's 50th 747-400, says the 600-seater which the carrier wants to add to its fleet early in the next century must offer at least a 15-20% reduction in seat-kilometre costs, compared with the 747-400.
Boeing's plans for a 495-seat stretched 747 fail to impress BA general manager fleet planning, Rod Muddle, who says the aircraft will offer "less than 10%" improvement.
Boeing is also struggling to get its 777-X growth models off the ground, and Mulally gives a cautious outlook for this programme. "It's a big decision, we're thinking about it and I don't know when it will happen," he says, conceding: "The current 777 models easily do 99% of what everyone wants."
The already-launched 717 regional jet programme, having attracted just 55 orders, will continue, vows Mulally.
"We worry about the orders, but we get enough feedback that the aircraft is right," he says.
Source: Flight International
