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Boeing CEO: New Airplane Design Years Away

Dave Calhoun says his company needs to prioritize digital capabilities first.

Boeing says going digital will boost revenue, while eliminating design and production hurdles. [Courtesy: Boeing]
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Key Takeaways:

  • Boeing's CEO Dave Calhoun announced that a new clean-sheet airliner design is "at least a couple of years" away.
  • The delay is strategic, allowing Boeing to significantly improve its digital design, manufacturing, and service capabilities through advanced tools and cloud partnerships with Microsoft, Google, and AWS.
  • Boeing is not rushing to compete with rivals like Airbus, prioritizing a substantial technological leap driven by digital maturity, sustainability, cockpit design, and autonomy, rather than incremental propulsion improvements.
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Boeing’s (NYSE: BA) president and CEO Dave Calhoun said any new clean-sheet airliner design would be “at least a couple of years” away. Speaking at a conference for investors recently, the CEO of the aircraft manufacturer said the company needed time to improve its digital capabilities necessary to ensure any potential design would be substantially better.

Improving Digital Capabilities

In a conversation with Bernstein aerospace and defense analyst Doug Harned, Calhoun said that while design teams had progressed privately in testing out the new digital design approaches, more work needed to be done with those tools before any genuine product came.

Michael Wildes

Michael Wildes holds a master’s degree in Logistics & Supply Chain Management, and a bachelor’s degree in Aeronautical Science, both from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. Previously, he worked at the university’s flight department as a Flight Check Airman, Assistant Training Manager, and Quality Assurance Mentor. He holds MEI, CFI & CFII ratings. Follow Michael on Twitter @Captainwildes.

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