Max & family

The decision from the Boeing board of directors to proceed with the MAX, which features new engines, an updated flightdeck and a host of aerodynamic improvements to cut fuel burn, came just a month before the airframer celebrated the first delivery of its 787-8 Dreamliner to launch customer All Nippon Airways on September 21 2011.

And the contrast between the two programs could not be more stark, notwithstanding the different challenges presented by the clean-sheet 787 and re-engined 737 MAX, which is the fourth generation of an aircraft that will celebrate its 50th year in 2018.

Boeing’s 787 was plagued by years of delays as the company sought to integrate a global supply chain – moveable trailing edges from Australia, wings from Japan and parts of the fuselage from South Korea joined thousands of parts manufactured in all corners of the world – amid efforts to perform a technological leap with the use of carbon fibre composites for the fuselage and the replacement of pneumatics and hydraulics with electrical systems.

“The contrast between the two programs could not be more stark.”

By comparison, the 737 MAX program has met and exceeded its major deadlines and is being delivered slightly ahead of schedule.

Boeing 737 MAX chief project engineer and deputy program manager Michael Teal puts this down to a clear strategy of ensuring the aircraft met some very simple principle rules that were established at the outset.

“Those rules were number one, it had to meet the customer requirements of the improved fuel burn. So the mission was we are just going to work on the components of the airplane that improve the fuel efficiency of the airplane,” Teal told reporters during a dial-in briefing on April 13.

“So we limited the work statement to only that which would improve that.

“Two, the production system of the 737 here in the Renton plant is really our guideline that says any changes we make we have to flawlessly incorporate into this production system so we can do the conversion.”

A FAMILY OF FOUR, WITH A FIFTH (LIKELY) ON THE WAY

Boeing is currently offering four variants of the 737 MAX, which features a new flightdeck, fly-by-wire spoilers and new technology winglets compared with the current model 737 NG.

To accommodate the CFM International LEAP 1B’s 176cm fan diameter engines, compared with the CFM56’s 155cm diameter fan on the NG, the 737 MAX also incorporates a taller nose wheel landing gear leg, while the engine nacelles’ trailing edges feature noise-reducing chevron shaping, as also seen on the 787.

The MAX 8, which at 3,515nm range with 162 passengers in a two-class configuration Boeing describes as the “heart of the market”, was certified in March 2017.

The larger MAX 9 has been designed with a maximum range of 3,515nm for up to 220 passengers in a single-class or 178 passengers in a two-class configuration, according to Boeing figures.

The aircraft took off on its maiden flight from Renton Field in Washington State on April 13, with first delivery is expected in 2018. Teal says the MAX 9 is progressing on schedule much in the same way the MAX 8 performed.

The company is also developing the 200-seat MAX 200, which uses the same fuselage as the MAX 8 but trades reduced range for more seats. Ryanair is the launch customer.

The smallest variant, the MAX 7, has been designed to carry 138 passengers in a two-class layout 3,825nm. Assembly of the first aircraft is expected in the final quarter of calendar 2017, with first flight in the first quarter of calendar 2018, Teal said.

In early March, Boeing publicly unveiled a proposed fifth variant, the MAX 10X, which would be capable of accommodating 230 seats in a single-class layout or 189 seats in a two-class configuration.

BACK TO BASICS APPROACH CHARACTERISES MAX PROGRAM

Although preferring not to publicly over (again) what went wrong with the 787 program, Teal acknowledges the MAX team heeded the lessons from the Dreamliner’s well-documented production issues as part of efforts to ensure the smooth progress of the MAX.

“I’m not going to talk about the ’87, it’s been well talked about and that particular program of the good and what the not so good was,” Teal says.

“But from a learning perspective I think it is really that airplane development effort where we had the program management, where our gated process that we put in place to follow to ensure the development held schedule was really the difference.

“Something that wasn’t really in place early in the days of the ’87 and now that we’ve got that in place it is really turned the corner and enabled us to get back and meet our commitments.”

Teal explains further: “When I came to join the program as the chief project engineer we had a separate team put together that was defined to only work on the MAX, in terms of working through the requirements of the airplane, agreeing to the schedule, working with the production system and really working with the engine supplier as well – they follow that same process – and then following a whole series of gated process of milestones to ensure that throughout that development phase we were sticking to our schedule and making the decisions when we needed to make them.”

“And when we followed that regimented process with this airplane development effort, the results have shown that we have been able to stay on schedule and meet the performance of the airplane.

“It is really kind of back to the basics of program management of setting forth and making the commitments that you know you can make – both performance wise and schedule wise – and then going forth and executing on that.

“We’re not done yet of course, I’ve got one model through and the next one is one schedule but sticking to those principles has really helped and we’re going to continue to do it.”

“We’re not done yet of course.”
Michael Teal

BOEING URGES CAUTION OVER MAX 9 VERSUS A321NEO ORDERS

The Boeing website lists 3,714 orders for its 737 MAX family of aircraft at the end of April 2017, without breaking the total down into individual variants.

By contrast, Airbus separates out its 5,054 A320neo family of aircraft orders as of April 30 2017 into 50 A319neo, 3,618 A320neo and 1,386 A321neo variants.

Industry estimates suggest the A321neo was outselling the 737 MAX 9 by a factor of five to one.

However, Teal says market watchers need to be “careful” with the order numbers.

“When it comes down to predicting the delivery streams, if you look at the deliveries out of the NG market today what are we delivering? We are delivering that 15-20 per cent in that larger market of the 900ERs. With that we expect the family to be very similar going forward,” Teal says.

“Now if you looked only at the orders, I think you have got to be careful. It’s around what we deliver.

“Many airlines order 8s with options for 9s and we don’t tell you about that. We just keep it, we just wait until the airline makes their decision so they have options.

“Our expectation is when the deliveries and the families are growing, we expect that that heart of the market remains as the 8, but that 9s and 10s are going to be between 15 and 25 per cent of that marketplace.”

While yet to be formally launched, Teal says the airframer is currently consulting with airlines about the level of interest in the MAX 10X.

“We are doing the product development trade studies right now, taking with customers,” Teal said.

“It’s offerable. It is going out to the customers. We are working with the customers today and really we will determine when we launch that program when the customers show the interest and they are ready to buy the program.

“Sales teams are out working with customers today.”

The 737 MAX 10X would be a 1.68m stretch of the MAX 9, with 1.17m forward of the wing and the remaining 50cm aft of the wing.

As a result, Boeing engineers are working on a larger landing gear to accommodate the additional length of the aircraft.

“We just need a little more extension of that gear to enable the same rotation margin on takeoff as well as the landing performance from a contact margin,” Teal explains.

“We’ve looked at several different design parameters. We are still in what I’ll call that design development.

“I’ve seen several of our concepts that we are now putting into prototype testing. It’s looking really good and I don’t feel we’re going to have any real issues with it. It’s just getting that final design done.”

The aircraft is expected to reach firm configuration at the 2017, with first delivery targeted for 2020 should airlines be prepared to order the aircraft.

On April 26, Boeing chief executive Dennis Muilenburg said the company was continuing to have productive discussions with airlines about the MAX 10X.

However, it was not yet in a position to officially launch the aircraft.

“We continue to work on closing that business case and working diligently with our customers,” Muilenburg said during Boeing’s quarterly earnings presentation.

“We see encouraging momentum there, but we still have work to do to finish up on the business case. And we have time to complete that work and then make the right decision.”

“If we choose to proceed with the MAX 10, I think it only adds to the strength of our portfolio in the narrowbody marketplace.”

In this part of the world, Virgin Australia has ordered 40 737 MAX aircraft. The airline recently deferred first delivery “final quarter of the 2019 calendar year”, from 2018 previously.

Boeing’s other two 737 MAX customers in Oceania are Air Niugini, which put pen to paper in February 2016 for four MAX aircraft arriving from 2020, and Fiji Airways, which has five 737 MAX 8s slated for delivery from 2018.

Meanwhile, Qantas is expected to run a competition between the 737 MAX and A320neo at some future point for the replacement of its existing 737-800 fleet.

Teal says the performance of the MAX 8 is “meeting our expectations”.

“How we deal with the contracts with customers I won’t comment on, but the commitments we’ve made to the customers we are meeting. We’re very happy with that,” Teal says.

The Boeing executive says production of current model 737 NGs is expected to end in mid-2019.