Boeing exec talks up 777X, 787-10X at aerospace conference

Boeing Co. executives "really like what we're doing" with widebody jet development programs like the 777X and 787-10X.

That's what Randy Tinseth, vice president of marketing for Boeing Commercial Airplanes, said Wednesday at the Pacific Northwest Aerospace Alliance conference in Lynnwood.

Tinseth made his remarks shortly after analyst Richard Aboulafia of the Teal Group questioned Boeing's apparent delay in proceeding with an updated 777, called the 777X.

Boeing CEO Jim McNerney previously suggested the 777X won't enter service until early in the next decade. On Wednesday, Tinseth said the company plans "for these airplanes to enter market late in the decade."

The new 777X family of aircraft would be slightly larger than the existing 777 models. Boeing is seeing a growing number of 777s configured to seat 10 passengers across. The company is keeping that in mind with interior improvements on the 777X, Tinseth said.

The 777X, which would have a range of 5,000 miles, also would be more efficient than the existing version or similar jets, he said.

Tinseth also was upbeat about the 787-10X, which will seat 323 passengers and have a range of 6,800 nautical miles.

"It will be the most fuel efficient aircraft we have built," he said.

To avoid development problems, Boeing is "doing everything we can to make this aircraft a simple stretch" of the existing 787-8 and 787-9.

Together, the 777X and 787-10X "really put pressure on our competition," Tinseth said. "We essentially push the A330 out of the market."

And what about the Airbus A350?

The long-term viability of that jet "is really in question," he said.