Boeing Says Japanese Firms to Take Stake in Plane

Boeing Co., the world’s biggest plane maker, said Sunday that it expects Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd. and other Japanese suppliers to take at least a one-fifth stake in its new 7E7 aircraft.

Alan Mulally, Boeing’s commercial aircraft head, said Japanese companies will probably pay for at least 20% of the development costs of the new plane, as they did for the aircraft maker’s 767 and 777 planes. He said other companies, which he didn’t name, also may take stakes in the project.

“All of our partners have asked us in the past on how to get our benefits and risks more aligned and I think the time is now for the new plane,” Mulally said during a briefing at the Paris Air Show.

Chicago-based Boeing has marketed the twin-aisle plane to 40 airlines, and expects to begin production by the end of 2004 and start delivery in 2008.

Boeing aims to sell as many as 3,000 of the new jetliners over the next 20 years, or as much as 13% of all aircraft sold during the period.

“We think we could launch it by the first quarter of next year and a 2008 entry into service looks really good,” Mulally said.

The new plane is designed to carry between 200 and 250 passengers, and will use 20% less fuel per seat than comparable current models. Boeing on Sunday named the plane the “Dreamliner,” the winning name among four choices that received a total of 500,000 votes.

Boeing said the lower costs will help entice customers, and has spoken to airlines including Japan Airlines System Corp., Asia’s largest carrier, and Singapore Airlines Ltd., Asia’s most profitable carrier.

Japan Airlines is a potential buyer because it needs to replace about 28 Boeing 767 planes and 22 Airbus A300-600 planes by 2010, the carrier’s spokesman Geoffrey Tudor said last week.

“The 7E7 could well be a candidate for the replacement of our planes, but it’s still early days and a lot of information is still needed,” Tudor said. The carrier has given Boeing a list of its requirements for the 7E7, he said.

Mulally also said at the briefing that Boeing is now in talks with Asian carriers for potential orders for delivery in 2005 and 2006. He didn’t provide more details.