Maybe sales would increase if they called it what it really is: a DC-9, one of the finest airliners to ply the skies. Mike Gammon > > From: Bill Hough <psa188@xxxxxxxx> > Date: Thu, 8 May 2003 09:04:00 -0700 > To: AIRLINE@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx > Subject: SF Gate: Boeing pitches 717 as new corporate jet to spur sales > > =20 > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > This article was sent to you by someone who found it on SF Gate. > The original article can be found on SFGate.com here: > http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=3D/news/archive/2003/05/07/f= > inancial2029EDT0372.DTL > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > Wednesday, May 7, 2003 (AP) > Boeing pitches 717 as new corporate jet to spur sales > HELEN JUNG, AP Business Writer > > > (05-07) 17:29 PDT SEATTLE (AP) -- > It may not be the best time to pitch a new corporate jet to cash-strapped > companies, but that's not stopping the Boeing Co. > At the European Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition in Geneva on > Wednesday, the Chicago-based aerospace manufacturer announced it will make > a version of its low-selling 717-200 available as a corporate jet. > Boeing already sells its Boeing Business Jet, a version of the 737-700, > which can be outfitted with showers, beds and other flying luxuries. The > unfinished jet sells for about $40 million with another $10 million or so > for the interior. > The program has been more successful than Boeing expected, said analyst > Paul Nisbet of JSA Research. Since 1996 -- when Boeing announced the > program, anticipating six or eight orders a year -- the company has > received orders or commitments for more than 80 planes. > "This airplane can save significant time in the travel process, which wi= > ll > reduce many of the hard costs of air travel -- air fare, hotels, food and > entertainment -- as well as the 'soft' costs: time spent in transit, at > terminals, waiting at the gate, delays at baggage claim and waiting to get > a taxi or rental car," said Thad Dworkin, sales director of Boeing > Commercial Airplanes. > Boeing believes the new offering will help bolster its 717 jet program in > Long Beach, Calif., said spokesman Bob Saling. There have been no new > orders for the plane this year, the backlog of planes to be built has > dwindled to 36 and the line is producing only one jet a month. > Last year, American Airlines returned a couple dozen 717s inherited in i= > ts > acquisition of bankrupt TWA. Boeing was able to get AirTran Airways to > lease 22 of them, but the low-fare carrier cut nine planes from its > previous order for new 717 jets. > Other U.S. 717 customers are Hawaiian Airlines, now in Chapter 11 > bankruptcy protection, and Midwest Airlines. > The 717-200, which seats about 106 in commercial use, would be configured > to seat 40 to 80 people in a first-class or business-class configuration > for the 717 Business Express program. It would have a range of about 3,500 > miles. > Typically, the Business Express plane with an unfinished interior would > sell for a little less than the 717-200 list price of $35.5 million to > $39.5 million, said Saling. > Boeing is in talks with a few customers, Saling said, though he declined > to identify them and said there are no firm orders yet. > "It's enough to feel like we had something to move forward with," he sai= > d. > "We realize that we may be in this (downturn) for a little while, but > things are going to get better." > Boeing is looking ahead to a recovery, hoping to find a new niche to > expand its 717 sales, Nisbet said. But it may take some time, and > companies may not rush back to travel even when the economy does fully > recover. > "Right now the market's pretty darn soft," he said. "A lot of businesses > have gotten used to the idea of not traveling that much." > > ^On the Net: > www.boeing.com > > =20 > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > Copyright 2003 AP >