Airbus, Boeing Eye Fast Output as Plastics Loom for Future Jets

Airbus and Boeing are preparing the aerospace industry for sharp increases in output of the next generation of workhorse jets to some 100 a month each, as they explore lighter plastic materials and robotic assembly, industry sources said.

- REUTERS

Facing weak supply chains and a potentially lengthy wait for future engine developments, the world's two largest planemakers are years away from launching projects to replace their decades-old Boeing 737 and Airbus A320 series, which remain in demand.

But both told a packed technical audience at a Paris composites fair this month that they were already making progress in researching what the succeeding generation of models could be made of and in turn how fast they could be built.

"The goal is to recommend the best approach to transition...(to) the next airplane programme," Randy Wilkerson, who represents Boeing in a NASA research project for high-capacity manufacturing called HiCAM, told the JEC World conference in Paris.

The airplanes that future models would replace are built of aluminum under methods perfected over decades. But composites are being considered for their lighter weight and flowing shape.