Assessing the 737-900ER vs Airbus NEO

AeroTurboPower has an interesting piece looking at the fuel burn and cash costs of the 737-900ER vs the A320neo and A321neo.

The post is noteworthy as an independent analysis to Airbus or Boeing. Boeing, of course, claims the 737-900ER is more efficient that either the A321 Legacy or A321neo.

737MAX costs vs A320neo

AirInsight takes a look at the Boeing claims of 4%-7% cost advantages of the 737MAX vs the A320neo. The analysis comes to a slightly different conclusion than Boeing.

Boeing wants earlier EIS for 737MAX

Boeing yesterday announced a 2017 entry-into-service date for the 737 MAX, perhaps as much as two years after the advertised October 2015 EIS for the Airbus A320neo, but officials have challenged the development team to accelerate this time line.

We earlier reported that Boeing wanted an EIS of 2016/17, but in the press conference Tuesday, Jim Albaugh, CEO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes talked only of 2017. After the formal event, Nicole Piasecki, VP of Business Development and Strategic Integration, told a small group of reporters that Boeing wants to advance that date.

“Jim wants to under-promise and over-deliver, so he is challenging the team to bring the airplane to market as soon as possible,” she said. “Given our recent track record, we’re being very conservative—not conservative, we’re being very prudent, I should say—and disciplined to make sure that whatever we talk to our customers about, we actually have a plan to deliver on. I think you’ll see improvements on the 2017, but again our team is very disciplined and we’re going to make sure we have a plan before we make a commitment.”

The X-Factor, this time at Boeing

Boeing announced the name of its new 737 re-engined aircraft and like Airbus for the A350 XWB, there is now and X-Factor with Boeing: the 737 MAX-7/8/9.

Precise details on the MAX remain uncertain; Jim Albaugh, CEO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes, said engineering is still deciding whether to go for a 66-inch or 68-inch fan diameter for the CFM LEAP-1B. Although Albaugh said it is believe the larger fan still will not require a longer nose gear, with a ripple-effect of changes to the fuselage, he added that there is a contingency determined if a longer gear proves necessary with the larger fan.

Albaugh said final design configuration is still some weeks away.

It’s official: 737NE launched

Here is Flight Global’s story with a couple of artist renderings of the airplane.

Boeing made it official this morning: launch of the 737NE (New Engine) has been approved, bypassing the Authority to Offer.

Boeing said it has commitments for 496 NEs from five airlines. Only American Airlines has been announced, for 100. We expect Southwest Airlines to be another. Delta Air Lines’ order for 100 737-900ERs did not include conversion rights.

Boeing claims the 737NE will be 7% more efficient operating costs than the A320neo, but in its announcement today did not detail how. Boeing also says the 737NE will have 16% lower fuel burn than today’s A320 and 4% lower than the neo.