Pratt & Whitney and CFM might not like to hear it, but if the assertions of Boeing CFO James Bell prove accurate, the 15- to 16-percent fuel efficiency gains the engine makers have repeatedly advertised for their respective next-generation turbofans will translate into less than double digits if and when they make their way onto existing narrowbodies. Consequently, chances that Boeing will fit new engines on today’s Boeing 737 appear slimmer now than at any time since the company began talking publicly about the idea.
Speaking last month at the Morgan Stanley Industrials Unplugged Conference in New York, Bell went further than any Boeing executive to date in throwing a proverbial bucket of cold water on the idea of a re-engined 737. Although in July Boeing CEO Jim McNerney said that “on balance” Boeing’s customers would rather see a completely new design, it was not until Bell said at the New York conference, “I can tell you our customers have not shown a real interest in a re-engining,” that the prospects for a re-engined 737 have appeared so remote.
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