Airline demands for range and payload characteristics better tailored to their specific needs have prompted a shift in how Boeing approaches optimization of the various airplanes within a given family. Most recently, studies centered on market demand for a potential third version of the 787 Dreamliner, commonly known as the 787-10X, have sent Boeing in a direction toward an airplane that offers perhaps less range than expected in exchange for still better economics, for example.
During a pre-show briefing at the company’s widebody plant in Everett, Washington, Boeing Commercial Airplanes (BCA) v-p of business development and strategic integration Nicole Piasecki alluded to plans for a 15-percent increase in passenger capacity compared with the upcoming 787-9, which itself will hold 40 more passengers than the 787-8. But while 787-8 flies as far as 8,200 nm and specifications for the -9 show a range of between 8,000 and 8,500 nm, Boeing has identified an optimal range of just 6,800 nm for the 787-10X.
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