Boeing has formalized an agreement with “key” Japanese partners to supply some 21 percent of the major structural components for the 777X, the company announced Thursday. The deal completes last year’s memorandum of agreement (MOA) signed by Boeing, Japan Aircraft Industries (JAI) and Japan Aircraft Development Corporation (JADC) covering fuselage sections; center wing sections; pressure bulkheads; main landing gear wells; passenger, cargo and main landing gear doors; wing components and wing-body fairings.
JAI consists of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI), Kawasaki Heavy Industries (KHI), Fuji Heavy Industries (FHI), ShinMaywa Industries (SMIC) and NIPPI Corporation (NIPPI). JADC is a non-profit research foundation established to promote the Japanese aircraft industry.
Under the deal, Boeing awarded the consortium of Japanese companies essentially the same proportion of the 777X airframe that Japanese partners now build for the current version of the 777.
Boeing has partnered with Japanese aerospace companies for nearly five decades to develop and manufacture the 737NG, 737 Max, 747, 757, 767, 777, 787 Dreamliner, and now the 777X.
“The signing of this contract is an important milestone for JADC and JAI,” said Shigeru Murayama, JADC chairman and president of KHI. “The JAI companies are investing in new facilities and introducing robotic and other automated systems to ensure they deliver high-quality products on time every time. This is a measure of their commitment to the success of the 777X.”
Last year Boeing bought more than $5 billion worth of goods and services in Japan. The company expects the new agreement to raise that total to $36 billion between 2014 and the end of the decade.
“This agreement with our Japanese partners extends this important and strategic relationship for decades to come,” said George Maffeo, president, Boeing Japan. “Since announcing our MOA last year, we have already seen their considerable investment in new cutting-edge facilities to produce the 777X and meet rate increases on other Boeing airplane programs.”
Boeing, which has drawn firm orders for 306 777Xs, expects production to begin in 2017 and first deliveries to start in 2020.