The Boeing 737 just became prettier and meaner at the same moment in Seattle today.
The ‘prettier’ bit is a new interior with fancy LED lights in the ceiling which will be delivered in new 737s from about now.
The ‘meaner’ parts, which the airline bean counters will also find very pretty, is a substantial package of improvements to the French-American engine, the CFM 56 family that hangs off all current and future 737s.
The CFM 56-7BE (E for Evolution) offers a 2% reduction in fuel consumption and a 4% lowering of the costs of engine maintenance and should become ‘the’ new standard for the 737 power plants from mid 2011.
This means deferred 737s for Qantas, and future orders for the same type by Virgin Blue, should be even better flying machines than they are today, assuming both carriers are in a position to take any of them several years from now.
There was no embrace of a GTF engine for the 737s today as your’s truly had speculated about recently. This doesn’t alter the outlook however for a further revolution in engine technology using so called geared turbofan designs for this size of jet later in the next decade.
The CFM 56 family engines also sell strongly on the competing Airbus A320 line of single aisle jets as an alternative to the Anglo-American IAE consortium engines offered on those aircraft.
Will comparable improvements be offered on the CFM engines on Airbuses? It is hard to imagine they won’t be, if CFM still wants the business, but the final say on this will probably emerge at an Airbus technical media briefing in Hamburg next Monday week.
While the soothing lights and improved appearance of the newest 737s looks very nice, sky warriors probably know better than to get too excited. The airlines will just keep cramming the seats in as tightly as possible, and a stiff drink rather than a ceiling sky show out of the sci-fi for seniors flick, Solyent Green, is more likely to relieve the bone pain and crushing numbness of short haul jets packed to the hilt.
