SEATTLE (AP) -- Boeing is shelving plans for its giant 747X and instead will focus on developing the "Sonic Cruiser" -- a radically new jetliner that will travel at nearly the speed of sound, the aerospace company announced Thursday.
Boeing officials said there simply wasn't a market for the larger 747, designed to compete with archrival Airbus Industries new A380 super-jumbo. While Airbus has received 66 orders for its 555-seat jet, no customers have ordered the larger 747, which would have carried 525 passengers.
Instead, Boeing released drawings for an aircraft unlike any other existing commercial jet, with a delta wing near its tail, two smaller wings near the nose, and a pair of engines blended into the wing.
"This is the airplane our customers have asked us to concentrate on," Alan Mulally, chairman and chief executive officer of Boeing Commercial Airplanes, said in a news release. "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."
Mulally said Boeing could always resurrect the 747X project if demand materializes.
"We also will continue the ability to do a larger 747 if and when our customers tell us they need one," he said.
Mulally said the powerful yet economic engines developed for Boeing's 777 extended-range planes were the breakthrough that made the Sonic Cruiser possible.
The new aircraft could lead to a family of airplanes that could carry 100 to 300 passengers while cruising at Mach 0.95, just under the speed of sound. Sound travels at Mach 1, about 750 miles (1,200 kilometers) per hour at sea level or 660 miles (1,070 kilometers) per hour at 30,000 feet (9,145 meters) above sea level.
The 15-percent to 20-percent gain in speed could mean cutting more than an hour from some U.S. air routes, about two hours on some transatlantic flights and up to three hours on some Pacific routes.
The new plane also would have the potential to fly farther than any other commercial aircraft, with a range estimated at 10,350 miles (16,655 kilometers). Mulally said the plane could be flying by 2006 or 2007.
The aircraft would cruise at around 45,000 feet (13,715 meters), about 10,000 feet (3,050 meters) higher than most other commercial jets.
"When we combine higher speed, longer range, the comfort of flight at higher altitudes and the environmental benefits of quieter landings and takeoffs, we have an airplane that will open a new chapter in commercial aviation," Mulally said. "We are changing our new product development efforts to focus more strongly on this airplane.… It will be an ideal complement to our current family."
Earlier this year, Condit said the company would put more emphasis on mid-sized planes, the market served by Boeing's 767. Last week, Condit and Mulally released some details of the proposed new aircraft, saying customers had shown a great deal of interest.
Flight International Magazine, a trade publication, reported this week that Boeing plans to invite up to 12 key airlines by the end of May to help plan the new jets. A similar group of airlines was used to advise Boeing in developing its 777 jet family in the early 1990s.
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