Boeing med oppgraderingsplan for B777

Boeing Rolls Out 777 Upgrade Plan

Ever careful with its stewardship of the cash-generating 777 program, Boeing is planning a series of upgrades to ensure the aircraft remains competitive in the long-range market well after the 777X derivative enters service.

The plan, initially revealed in January, will be laid out in detail by Boeing for the first time on March 9 at the International Society of Transport Air Trading meeting in Arizona. Aimed at providing the equivalent of 2% fuel-burn savings in baseline performance, the rolling upgrade effort will also include a series of optional product improvements to increase capacity by up to 14 seats that will push the total potential fuel-burn savings on a per-seat basis to as much as 5% over the current 777-300ER by late 2016.

At least 0.5% of the overall specific fuel-burn savings will be gained from an improvement package to the aircraft's GE90-115B engine, the first elements of which General Electric will test later this year. However the bulk of the savings will come from a broad swath of changes to reduce aerodynamic drag and structural weight. Additional optional improvements to the cabin will also provide operators with more seating capacity and upgraded features that would offer various levels of extra savings on a per-seat basis, depending on specific configurations and layouts.