CFS: Next era of Boeing widebody freighters dawns with 777XF launch plans
Boeing and Airbus will soon each have a new large widebody product
LAS VEGAS — Boeing is one step closer to an official launch of its next-generation 777XF and is “actively working on [its] launch timing,” according to Senior Director of Product Marketing and Freighter Customer Leader Brian Hermesmeyer at Cargo Facts Symposium 2021, during a session titled, “Carrying the future: Next-generation widebody prospects and strategies.”
Boeing’s confirmation that it will offer a production freighter based on the 777X means that, for the first time, Boeing and Airbus will compete in the large widebody segment.
“This is a space that we have been strong in for many, many years and have an extensive amount of experience in developing with our customers to make sure that the aircraft is in the right place at the right time,” Hermesmeyer said.
During Boeing’s third-quarter earnings call today, President and Chief Executive Officer David Calhoun also told analysts that the company is coordinating with its suppliers and intends to increase its 777F production capacity, but did not elaborate further.
Airbus, which announced at the end of July 2021 that it had received board approval to go ahead with developing an A350F, said the new-build aircraft will “give a real choice,” with a freighter that has the capabilities suitable for the market.
“We are probably five, six years down the road in terms of development and talking to customers,” Head of Freighter Marketing Crawford Hamilton said during the discussion. “We think we’ve got an aircraft whose economics will be highly competitive. It will be robust; it will be reliable, and it will be everything that operators are going to need in that market.”
Fellow panelist, Konstantin Vekshin, chief commercial officer of Volga-Dnepr Group, said that in a new widebody freighter he would like to see new features including a strong reinforced floor, better temperature control options, and better fuel efficiency.
Meanwhile, Guillaume Halleux, chief cargo officer of Qatar Airways, said in the opening panel yesterday that both Airbus and Boeing should think about improving the main decks with their new freighters to include real-time sensors and tracking capabilities. The airline currently has the largest freighter fleet of any scheduled combination carrier, with two 747-8Fs and twenty-six 777Fs.
