Boeing Gives Up On New Midsize Airplane (For Now)

Boeing doesn't have plans to introduce any new types of jets in the next 10 years.

Basics of the rumored Boeing New Midsize Airplane (NMA)

Both Boeing and Airbus are competing on aircraft types. Incremental improvements to existing aircraft models are only one of the things we see.

Boeing has a significant capacity and range gap in its current lineup of passengers jets, as the airline isn't producing anything between a Boeing737 and a Boeing787 There was enough space in the market for Boeing to work on a completely new design. The Boeing 797 has been referred to as the New Midsize Airplane.

The general thought was that this new concept would fill a void for Boeing.

• A plane that’s a replacement for the Boeing 767, with two aisles, seven seats per row, and a capacity of 225-275 passengers
• A plane that can compete with the new Airbus A321XLR, which is the longest range narrow body jet; while the A321neo and Boeing 737 MAX lines are generally competitive, Airbus has the significant advantage when it comes to the range of some variants

We know that Boeing was working on this for a long time, but they never made a public promise with this concept. The project got pushed to the side because of issues with the Boeing 777X getting certified, as well as the Boeing MAX being grounded around the world.

What is the latest with Boeing?

Why Boeing is no longer working on a New Midsize Airplane

There were rumors that Boeing was working on a new aircraft design. What's the reason?

• There aren’t currently any new propulsion systems that would deliver incremental efficiencies that would make this concept viable
• If Boeing does introduce a totally new aircraft concept, the company wants it to be a groundbreaking plane, rather than to just have incremental improvements
• Boeing is focusing on making incremental improvements to existing planes, which have been successful, and make the planes more appealing; for example, we’ve seen range and maximum takeoff weight improvements with Boeing’s newer jets, which improve economics

When should we expect Boeing to come up with a new plane? It could be in the middle of the next decade, so let's call it 2035.

“There’ll be a moment in time where we’ll pull the rabbit out of the hat and introduce a new airplane sometime in the middle of the next decade.”

Time will tell how this plays out, I don't think there are any plans there.

I can’t blame Boeing for this

Boeing doesn't prioritize another aircraft type right now.

• Designing a new aircraft from scratch is incredibly costly, and takes a very long time
• Keep in mind Boeing started working on the 777X concept in 2013, and that’s just an update to the existing Boeing 777; that’s now expected to enter service in 2025 at the earliest, so that’s a minimum of a 12 year process
• Boeing is continuing to lose billions of dollars, so it seems like it’s more logical to continue working on incremental improvements to existing jets, rather than starting from scratch
• At this point Airbus is at a significant long-term advantage compared to Boeing in terms of its product lineup; the company has the A220 (Boeing doesn’t have a competitor), the A321XLR (Boeing doesn’t have a competitor), the A330neo (which somewhat fills the gap between the A321neo and A350), and we’ve seen significant improvements to the A350-1000, which make it pretty competitive to the 777X
• I can’t help but feel like aircraft technology will have to improve by a lot more than 20% by 2035; we know Airbus is working on some zero emissions concepts, with the hope of having them flying by 2035

Bottom line

The New Midsize Airplane is on the back burner. The plan is to not have a completely new aircraft type until at least the year 2035. The current NMA plan will probably look different by the year 2035 due to the pace at which technology is evolving.

Boeing doesn't plan any new aircraft types until the mid-2030s, what do you think?