Boeing Revisits Past In Hunt For 737/757 Successors

For years, Boeing wrestled with how to replace a best--selling single-aisle product with an all-new design in one size s-ector while simultaneously protecting the longer-range, middle-of-the-market (MOM) from the predatory ambitions of Airbus.

Although this may sound like the 737 and 757 replacement conundrum faced by Boeing today, it is, in fact, the scenario that challenged the company almost 40 years ago. In the 1970s Boeing was grappling with how to replace the 727 and at the same time counter the emerging threat of the Airbus A310, the first derivative of the A300 family.

In a curious parallel to the situation today, Boeing’s market analysis for filling the 180-300-seat gap in the 1970s indicated that although the two requirements overlapped, it was too difficult to meet them both with a single-fuselage cross-section aircraft. A single aisle worked better for the lower end, but did not stretch very well. A twin aisle worked better for the upper end, but equally did not shrink well. As a result, for almost six years in the 1970s, the company exhaustively studied two concepts: a single-aisle twin dubbed the 7N7 and a widebody twin called the 7X7.

Full Article: http://aviationweek.com/commercial-aviation/boeing-revisits-past-hunt-737757-successors