Boeing Product Strategy:

The Right Airplanes for the Market and Solid Investment Value

The Boeing product line is shaped by two guiding principles: Building the right airplane for the market and creating solid investment values for aircraft owners, leasing companies, and financiers.

Building the right airplane for the market means understanding how airplane operators use airplanes to earn revenue. Since the beginning of the jet age, this has meant building airplanes that are fast, quiet, efficient, and economical to operate. In the mature market of the 21st century, technology has enabled us to focus on providing greater range to serve a wider variety of markets, enhanced passenger experience to promote market growth, e-enabled technology to increase airplane productivity, and standardization to reduce acquisition, maintenance and transition costs. Efficient design, application of advanced light-weight materials and propulsion technologies help Boeing airplanes achieve exceptional fuel economy and environmental performance.

Creating solid investment values starts with recognizing that a commercial airplane may have several operators and owners during its long, productive service life. To appeal to the broadest population of potential operators, Boeing airplane families are designed to offer an orderly progression of seating capacities from 100 seats to 450 seats. Each family of airplanes shares common performance characteristics and capabilities, as well as parts, systems, and training requirements, making it easy for operators to match the right airplane to the right market—and expanding opportunities for leasing companies and investors/owners to place airplanes in existing fleets.

Boeing anticipates a continuing varied role for the single-aisle jetliner and projects a market that is 40% larger than the competitor’s prediction. The single-aisle Boeing 737NG family and Airbus A320 series are closely matched in size. But the 737 family’s greater range and lower operating costs enable the Boeing airplanes to serve a broader spectrum of markets and a larger number of potential operators.

In the twin-aisle airplane market, the Boeing product strategy diverges dramatically from that of Airbus Industries. Boeing focuses on creating a product line that gives operators maximum flexibility to match airplane capacity to passenger demand. Complementary capabilities and passenger accommodations across the twin-aisle product line enables operators of Boeing airplanes to move airplanes between markets, and gives owners and leasing companies greater opportunity to place airplane assets in existing fleets.

Working together with the investor and financial communities during the design process has resulted in a product strategy with great market acceptance. By managing its production of new jetliners to actual market requirements, Boeing minimizes market over-supply to help manage superior life-cycle residual value performance.

The 787 Dreamliner demonstrates most dramatically the benefits of designing to maximize investor value. The 787 Dreamliner realizes an unprecedented level of standardization. The Dreamliner is the first jetliner in history that can use engines from different manufacturers interchangeably. Beyond striving for systems and equipment commonality, Boeing is standardizing maintenance requirements and procedures that facilitate movement of airplanes between operators subject to different regulatory authorities. Boeing works continually to extend the benefits of new product advances to existing Boeing models.

Consistently figuring at the top of airplane investment portfolios, Boeing airplanes reflect a comprehensive understanding of the commercial airplane market and the market’s evolution.