Few customers for Boeing 747 despite upgrade
The presidential aircraft fleet is made up
entirely of 747s, and the 747-8 is a lock to win bidding for
replacements.
CHICAGO - Boeing's iconic 747 jumbo jet is
gliding deeper into its twilight years, with a new Air Force One fleet offering
the strongest sales prospect for a passenger model that no longer fits most
airlines' needs.
Even as Boeing talks with Emirates airline about an
order for the upgraded 747-8, the carrier played down the chances of a deal
because it's buying 150 Boeing 777X jets. That plane will be bigger and more
efficient than the current 777, a twin-engine aircraft so capable that it's
cannibalizing Boeing's jumbo sales.
Commercial success has proved elusive
for the 747-8, the latest update to an almost 50-year-old plane known for its
distinctive humpbacked fuselage. While the 747-8 is a lock to win bidding that
opens this year to replace the president's fleet, waning demand for the cargo
variant further imperils an assembly line that has slowed to just one or two
planes a month.
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