Page 10 - AAA SEPTEMBER - OCTOBER 2015 Online Magazine

FEATURE BOEING 757

at the 2005 Paris Air Show that the “737 were submitted on Oct. 2, 2001 and will fly 500nm farther than the A321ceo.
replacement” could be more than one approved in 2003 and 2004. One cabin sports Airbus says that in a standard cabin
fuselage size. “We could do three different a 2-3-2 configuration and more width than 206 passenger layout (16/190) the LR will
fuselages. Five abreast, six-abreast . . . we height. In the patent applications, Sankrithi have a 4,000nm range which tops the 757’s
could even do a twin-aisle,” he said at the time. claims the new configuration could deliver (winglet) 3,850 nm. The A321 is certified
And that modular concept has been “the comfort typically reserved for larger for 240 passengers.
examined in detail by Boeing. In 1997, after aircraft” while at the same time minimizing Ascend warns that “developing an all-
the merger with Boeing, Douglas engineers drag, weight penalties, fuel burn and new 220-240 seater would likely cost as
produced a “Modular Aircraft” study. The “economic penalties.” much as a larger wide-body programme.”
paper authored by John Allen called for two According to an Ascend report, the The reference point it says in terms
fuselage cross-sections, three fuselage response from Boeing and Airbus to fill of cost per seat will be the A321neo, and
lengths and different modular wings for this market segment will be “very different single-aisle aircraft have an advantage
each cross-section, which would result in to the out-of-production Boeing type. from the start in terms of operating costs
“six different low cost aircraft.” With clever It notes that Air Lease Corporation’s due to their lighter structure.
shaping, the internal sidewall structure Steven Udvar-Hazy has been very vocal in “In fact the current A321 and 737-900
was common to both fuselages with only calling for such an aircraft, and of course match the cash operating cost (COC) per
fuselage caps unique. ALC has placed a launch order for the new seat of the much larger 787 in comparable
The main pitch was that Boeing Airbus A321neo LR – which is the closest dual class layouts,” says Ascend.
could develop a family of related aircraft current or new type that fits the bill in The Ascend reports notes that the
in a much shorter period of time for terms of seats and range capability. ALC “costs of developing a new programme do
substantially lower non-recurring has 109 A320neo on order including 30 not necessarily scale down with a smaller
investment and with substantially lower A321neoLRs. aircraft, so an all-new 220-240 seater
recurring costs. That model has a 97-ton maximum would likely cost almost as much as a
The idea surfaced again as one of two take-off weight (MTOW) and Airbus COO larger wide-body programme.”
patents filed by Boeing under the heading Customers John Leahy claims that the It notes that “therefore the size of the
“Twin-Aisle Small Airplane,” with Mithra aircraft will burn up to 30 per cent less potential market becomes a key factor in
Sankrithi, a manager in Commercial fuel than a 757. deciding whether to proceed with a new
Airplanes’ product development, First deliveries of the A321neoLR are launch. For example, if only 1,000 aircraft
configuration and engineering analysis set down for 2019 and the aircraft will were sold, a $20 billion investment needs
group, named as the inventor. The patents have a third auxiliary centre fuel tank and $20m per aircraft extra on the price

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