Boeing (BA, Financial) launched its much talked about 777X airplane in November last year during the Dubai Airshow. The airplane variant is set to enter service by 2020. Right from its launch, the airplane has been making headlines ever since its launch. The success, some experts feel is because of the brand’s goodwill in the market. The 777x, for the record, is Boeings third in the generation of 777 aircrafts. The first in the series was just a remodeled version of the 787 aircraft. Airlines were and still are very willing to buy the 777X, but in 2012 Boeing delayed the development of the 777X to prevent interference with the highly successful Boeing 777-300ER. The airplane got off to a brilliant start in terms of bookings and orders. In fact, there has been no other airplane in the history of commercial aviation to have pocketed an astonishing 259 jet in pre-orders and that too for a whopping $95 billion.
How Were Its Siblings?
Some of the analysts feel that the success of 777X is purely because of the goodwill of the company and because of the earlier airplanes from the same family. If we look at the statistics of the hugely successful predecessors of 777X, we find that the 777-200ER and 777-300ER together gathered 1350 orders in total. The number of unfilled orders for the entire family is 380. With a delivery rate of 100 airplanes per year and minimal order inflow for the 777, Boeing will have filled all orders by 2018, leaving a 2 year gap between the introduction of the 777X and the last deliveries of the second generation 777 models.
Another feature that particularly sets the airplane apart from others in the same line of business is its sheer size. Airbus A350-1000 apparently carries the same number of passengers as the 777X but lags behind in terms of size and performance. In fact the competition that 777-300ER faced from Airbus A350-1000 forced Boeing to come out with 777X.
My Takeaway:
Boeing’s latest toy on the block is slated to make it big in the aero-sector. In spite of coming late into the market the plane has the capability to make some serious money. This is all because of the fact that the plane is armed with all the latest technologies and is powered by high performing engines. The company’s stocks have grown by almost 63% over the year. Investors would welcome this news.The only thing to worry about for the company is that they have to think of ways to clear the backlogs as the 777X goes into service only in 2020 and the company is yet to deliver some 272 airplane from their previous orders. To keep up with the pace of producing both the variants efficiently is what would be there to watch for.
