Boeing plans radical new jetliner

Associated Press

SEATTLE — Boeing is shelving plans for its giant 747X and will instead focus on developing the Sonic Cruiser — a radically new jetliner that will travel at nearly the speed of sound, the aerospace company announced yesterday.

In doing so, the company released drawings for an aircraft unlike any existing commercial jet, with a delta wing near its tail. Stubby vertical fins rise at an angle from a pair of engines blended into the wing, while two canards, or smaller wings, are near the nose.

"This is the airplane our customers have asked us to concentrate on," said Alan Mulally, chairman and chief executive of Boeing Commercial Airplanes. "They share our view that this new airplane could change the way the world flies as dramatically as did the introduction of the jet age."

Boeing officials said there simply wasn't a market for the larger 747, designed to compete with archrival Airbus Industries' new A380 superjumbo. While Airbus has received 66 orders for its 555-seat jet, no customers have ordered the larger 747, which would have carried 525 passengers.

Mulally said Boeing could always resurrect the 747X project if demand materializes.

By concentrating on the all-new jet, Boeing leapfrogs Europe's Airbus in commercial aircraft technology.

The new aircraft, with planned seating for 175-250 passengers, could lead to a family of airplanes carrying 100-300 passengers while cruising at Mach .95 to Mach .98, just under the speed of sound. Sound travels at Mach 1, about 750 mph at sea level or 660 mph at 30,000 feet above sea level.

The 15 to 20 percent gain in speed could mean cutting 50 minutes to an hour from some U.S. air routes and as much as three hours on some Pacific routes.

The new plane also would have the potential to fly farther than any other commercial airplane, about 10,350 miles. Mulally said the plane could be flying by 2006 or 2007.

The aircraft would cruise at around 41,000 feet.