Story ID: 311
Boeing Bullish on Embraer Talks 
By: AIN Staff
Caption: U.S. company's Asia-Pac sales chief calls tie-up "a good strategic fit."
Word Count: 550
While Boeing's presence at this year's Singapore show might seem a bit muted due to its lack of any airliners on display, interest in the company's pursuit of an ownership stake in Brazil's Embraer will no doubt present plenty of fodder for conversation in the exhibit halls. Speaking at a pre-show roundtable discussion with journalists yesterday, Boeing Commercial Airplanes vice president of sales for Asia-Pacific and India Dinesh Keskar opened the discussion on an optimistic note, suggesting the prospect of a tie-up involving both the commercial and defense businesses remains a distinct possiblity, despite less-than-positive signals from the Brazilian government over ceding control of any of Embraer's military interests. "The talks are ongoing, and it's a good strategic fit," said Keskar. "We have worked with [Embraer] for a long time. It is not an offshoot of what happened with Airbus and Bombardier, like some people think." 

Addressing Boeing's interests in the Asia-Pacific region, Keskar reported that the first 787-10 would go to Singapore Airlines toward the end of March, followed closely by Lion Air's first 737 Max 9. 

Although Singapore Airlines did not want to receive its new Rolls-Royce Trent 1000-TEN-powered Boeing 787-10 at the show this week, Boeing is highlighting issuance of the airplane's recent U.S. Federal Aviation Administration amended type certificate with a model in the exhibit hall (Stand U09, U23), while it prepares the third of three flight-test machines—MSN 60257/ZC002—for delivery, also to SIA.

Meanwhile, Boeing has been preparing for the 777-9, scheduled to fly in 2019, and finalizing preparation of the re-engined single-aisle 737 Max 9 (737-9), nominally scheduled for certification and service-entry before April.

In its other widebody development program, Boeing disclosed that work on the 777X has reached "90-percent design release" for the initial -9 variant, having previously reporting it hoped to complete 100 percent of 777X detail-design activity before the beginning of this year. By late 2017, Boeing had carried out a substantial amount of ground testing on avionics, power, and other systems.

Also, the U.S. manufacturer has integrated systems for performance evaluation on an "iron-bird" ground-test rig. Some 23 "labs" run tests, "including avionics, systems, and structures," according to Boeing.

Boeing has designated the first 777X composite wing, the longest it has ever manufactured, for the first assembled 777-9 airframe—the static-test specimen—now under construction. It will use the rig in conjunction with dynamic fatigue-testing conducted on the sixth airframe.

Meanwhile, 777-9 flight-test airframes 2 through 5, all scheduled for completion this year, will be joined later in the certification program by a pair of 777-8s. Boeing's development schedule for the new variants includes beginning of final assembly and 777-9 rollout this year, initial flight in 2019, and first customer delivery in the following year.

In narrowbody developments, Boeing prepared the roll-out this week the first short-body 737 Max 7 (737-7) flight-test aircraft, approached firm design configuration for the 737-10, and prepared for certification of the 737-9, as it continued development of the five-model CFM International Leap-1B-powered upgrade of the venerable single-aisle workhorse.

With the initial 737-8 established in airline service, and 737-9 deliveries beginning this year, plans call for the next variant—the more-densely configured 737 Max 200—to follow in 2019, ahead of the 737-10 "second stretch" model in 2020.