"Bob" <rluke.sr@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> writes:
> Hello Lars,
>
> I just joined google groups, and found your message. As an airline
> pilot who loves the 757, I am also sad to see the production of it "go
> away". I have some experience, on the customer side, with the marketing
> tactics of companies like Boeing. I have learned from years past that
> they made this particular decision so as to not be manufacturing a
> competitive acft with their new 787 Dreamliner. I agree with your
> article's logic about efficiency vs size. Within a relatively large
> range, the larger the jet the more efficiency one gets out of it.
> Obviously, operational length of the flights would play a part...you
> couldn't take a 747 on a 100 mile trip and make much money.
Ah, but 747's are routinely used for domestic hops in Japan. The key
is having 500 people or so who want to go the same place at the same
time. Oh, and congested air****ts. I suppose a specialized short-hop
heavy could be further optimized, but there is a limited market.
> The key,
> here, is that they are probably not willing to risk losing sales of the
> new project to 757 loyalists. It's still about the neatest airliner out
> there, in terms of sheer power and versatility.
I recall an explanation of the 757 some time ago in this group; I think
it went something like the following.
1. Boeing proposes a 727 replacement: take the 727, replace the wing,
take engines off the back, put nice new engines on the wing, and
plug the center hole. Insert fancy new electronic cockpit for fuel
efficiency and to reduce required flight crew from 3 to 2.
2. British Airways presses for a larger plane, which gradually happens.
New nose, new tail, etc.
3. Plane is launched and sells more or less well. Not a howling success.
4. BA announces, some years later, that they will be replacing all
757's with A320-series aircraft, as the 757 is too big for their
purposes.
I suspect that the '57 could be stretched quite a bit, but that the
market would rather have something wider (i.e. two aisles) for
capacity this size and larger. And this capacity and smaller tends to
be used for short hauls, so the 737 fills the bill. At any rate, no
one is beating down Boeing's door to buy 757's.
My impression was that the 787 was a notch larger; more a 767
replacement. And replacing a model after over two decades hardly seems
premature :).
--
-Stephen H. Westin
Any information or opinions in this message are mine: they do not
represent the position of Cornell University or any of its sponsors.
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