Plane truth

I just found out that Boeing Commercial Aircraft division had mastered in the 1960s what took the automobile industry until the turn of the century to figure out; that you can save costs by developing multiple models on what is essentially the same platform underneath. Duh!

All of Boeing's family of narrow body jetliners are essentially modifications to one aircraft - the Boeing 707. The 707 was the aircraft that ushered in the Jet Age. It was not the first jet powered passenger aircraft, that title goes to the ill-fated De Havilland Comet which, being a post war British design, crashed more often than it flew. The Boeing 707 was the first safe jetliner that could carry 140 passengers with six across seating and leap the Atlantic in a single bound. Its four engines were thirsty though and it needed a hell of a long runway.

Some US airlines wanted a jetliner for domestic use on old airports with short runways that were originally designed for piston engined aircraft like the DC3. So Boeing made a shorter version of the 707 called the 720 that carried fewer passengers but could stop sooner. Other airlines wanted an aircraft with two engines for operational efficiency, so Boeing took the same fuselage, with its six abreast seating, unbolted two of the engines and made the 737. Airlines that wanted to fly short international routes over the sea asked for 3 engines, because FAA regulations mandated that twin engined aircraft could fly routes that were no more than 60 minutes away from an emergency diversionary airport. Three engined aircraft were not subject to this restrictive rule, and Boeing took the same fuselage with its six across seating, mounted three engines near the tail and made the 727.
As high-bypass-airflow jet engines evolved, becoming more powerful, more reliable and more fuel-efficient, Boeing realized there was demand for an aircraft to fill the gap left by the original gas-guzzling 707 on medium range international routes. So they made the 757, a twin engined aircraft, again, built around the same fuselage.


Each of these models was developed into further derivatives, adding length to carry more passengers as more powerful jet engines became available and market segments were identified and served. These derivatives are identified by the suffix after the original model name like -200 and -300. The 727 has two variants, the 727-200 and the 727-300. The 757 has five, the 757-200, the 757-300, the 757-200PF (with wide cargo doors to load Pallet-ized Freight) the 757-200SF (Super Freighter) and the 757-200M (Combi - part passenger, part cargo).

The 737 spawned what must be the most successful line extension of all time across any industry. Boeing started to run out of numbers on this one and had to resort to using alphabets too. The 737 family has grown from the original 737-100 to include the 737-200, 737-300, 737-400, 737-500, 737-600, 737-700, 737-800, 737-900, hold on, I am not done yet, the 737-700ER, 737-900ER, 737C (Convertible), the 737QC, (Quick Change)  the 737 NG (Next Generation), the 737 MAX and the 737 BBJ - Boeing Business Jet.

Amazingly, Boeing has managed to segment the market without segmenting the product line, without being too obvious, unlike some automobile companies as we shall see tomorrow.

Nice going Boeing.