On the record with
BORGE BOESKOV, PRESIDENT, BOEING BUSINESS JETS

Boeing Is Surprised at BBJ's Brisk Sales

Boeing's Borge Boeskov, BBJ president

For Boeing Business Jets, the most important news of the past year came in September when the BBJ received a Supplemental Type Certificate for its blended winglets, designed by the Aviation Partners/Boeing joint venture.

"It may have been a few months late, but at least we've got it," Boeing Business Jets president Borge Boeskov told Show News. "It is on two or three airplanes so far, and all planes flying in service will be retrofitted within the next three to four months. For airplanes now in the completion cycle, the winglets can be installed at completion centers or in Wichita. For BBJs that have yet to begin the completion phase, winglets will be installed at the PATS facility at the same time as the auxiliary fuel tanks are installed."

Boeing knew that winglets would increase the aircraft's range by about 250 miles. What they didn't expect from the winglets was better takeoff performance-another 4,000 pounds of payload for hot-and-high departures.

Besides the winglets, the only other modification to the BBJ since last year's NBAA is the addition of Flight Dynamics' head-up display as standard equipment in the cockpit.

As of mid-September, Boeing had delivered 46 green airplanes and there were 16 in service. The in-service fleet has accumulated about 4,000 hours, and about 2,000 departures. There was one delay because of mechanical problems, giving the airplane a dispatch reliability of more than 99%.

Performance-enhancing winglets were FAA-certified for the Boeing Business Jet last month.

"This is an airline-type of airplane from a systems point of view, and there are plenty of backups," said Boeskov, who disclosed that the one delay didn't cause too many ripples with the operator because it was a General Electric airplane carrying chairman Jack Welch. GE is a partner in the BBJ program, and supplies the engines.

Boeskov was candid in his assessment of BBJ sales, saying they had slowed somewhat but are on the upswing again. "What's happening in the BBJ sales cycle is we had this incredible bow wave in 1997 with 27 sales," he said. "Then it slowed until the first airplane went into service earlier this year. Now we're getting a lot of interest again. In the next 12 months we'll sell a ton of airplanes."

Boeing has not released new sales figures since last NBAA, but Boeskov said the number of sales is matching the number of aircraft being produced annually. "We're producing 18 to 24 per year, so we should be selling 18 to 24 per year, and we're seeing that happen," he said. "There will be 18-21 deliveries in 2001, and we're holding that steady."

The success of the BBJ has, however, given Boeing some completion headaches. Boeskov said the company expected to have 25-30 airplanes in service as of now. By NBAA, the number of in-service BBJs will be 18 or 19.

"It's not happening on the schedule we thought would happen," said Boeskov. "Some centers are coming close to the schedule of eight to nine months, but a lot of the problems turn out to be part of the whole supply chain-cabinets and ICE (inflight entertainment) systems. It's taking some time to work the bugs out."

Concerning BBJ 2, a business jet based on the 737-800, sales have been better than expected, according to Boeskov. He predicted sales of five BBJ 2s in 2001, and planned to build four. Instead Boeing has sold six, and will build eight in 2001.

Will there be a BBJ 3? "Maybe," says Boeskov. "We're studying a BBJ 3, but to me at least, we need to get the BBJ 2 into the market first and let it absorb that. BBJ 3 will be next year."