Boeing technology chief Todd Citron has outlined how the latest innovations are being harnessed by the airframer to increase in-service jets' efficiency, as well as to improve design and manufacturing. Speaking at the Farnborough air show on 22 July, Citron highlighted that for Boeing's T7A jet trainer the use of virtual 3D rather than 2D engineering programs have enabled engineers to identify design issues earlier and thereby achieve smoother programme progress. Boeing cut engineering time 80% while quality improved 75%, Citron says. He cites the X-66A truss-braced wing demonstrator that Boeing is jointly building with NASA and the autonomous electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft of the airframer's subsidiary Wisk as other examples where new technologies have been leveraged to enhance design processes. In its factories, Boeing has begun using the world's largest inkjet printer to automatically paint aircraft tail fins. Citron says the technology reduces the need for paint masking and cuts drying times between application of different colours, while eliminating the need for scaffolds and working at height. A key objective of automation, he stresses, is reducing strenuous manual tasks for staff and thus increasing productivity. Boeing has introduced a mobile collaborative robot, or cobot, for component sanding. Trajectory-based operation has meanwhile been developed to improve airlines' flight planning and reduce air traffic congestion around airports. Where flight planning is conventionally done using pre-take-off weather and aeronautical data from separate information providers along an aircraft's route, trajectory-based operation involves using real-time data from ground stations and other aircraft. Weather developments and the air traffic situation in the vicinity of a flight's destination are typically not accounted for in conventional flight planning, says Citron. Boeing has assessed trajectory-based operation for transpacific flights, bringing together aeronautical information from the USA, Japan, Thailand and Singapore. The technology promises 10% fuel savings and even greater efficiency in airport capacity terms, Citron notes.. AI is being used to automatically monitor ground operations around aircraft at airport stands and identify potential delays. Citron says the technology has led to 10% efficiency gains and can be similarly employed to improve factory operations. He sees many opportunities for its employment, he adds. Boeing is separately developing AI technology to automatically monitor aircraft and ground vehicle traffic at airports, to warn pilots of potential runway incursions. An objective is to advance AI use from providing mere guidance for human operators to making decisions. Key to that, Citron says, is building trust in what he terms "assured autonomy". Boeing is working on autonomous piloting systems as part of the programme.

Japanese airline group ANA has disclosed plans to add seven De Havilland Canada Dash 8-400 turboprops to its fleet.
The aircraft will be introduced gradually, starting next year, says ANA. It adds the Dash 8s will be modified to match those already in its fleet. Fleets data shows that subsidiary ANA Wings has 24 Dash 8s in service. De Havilland Canada will procure and recondition the additional aircraft, which will be certificated according to OEM specifications and delivered to ANA under warranty, adds the airline group. "Our decision to expand the Dash 8-400 fleet reflects our ongoing commitment of reliable and economical aircraft that will enhance our existing fleet," states ANA executive vice-president of procurement Hidekazu Yoshida. "De Havilland Canada's comprehensive maintenance, repair and overhaul support will help us maintain our high standards of safety and service while supporting long-term reliability."

Boeing is seeing the "early signs" of improvement in aircraft production as attempts to overall culture, oversight and safety at the US OEM' begin to bear fruit, chief executive of Boeing Commercial Airplanes says. Speaking during a media event in London on 21 July, Stephanie Pope said that since taking over four months ago she has witnessed a "significant improvement" in the flow of Boeing's 737 Max factory production. The US manufacturer has reduced its production rate to below 38 narrowbodies a month, with a commitment to reach 38 towards the end of this year. "Those production rates are meaningfully increasing month over month," she observes. Similarly, on the 787 programme Pope notes that production has been below five per month with a commitment to get to five towards the end of the year, and that safety and quality actions it is implementing on the 737 are being rolled out across its other production facilities. "So you would see the same type of plans and actions being put on the floor at Charleston as you would in Renton or Everett," she says. Stabilising production and running deliveries predictably is one of three priorities that Pope is seeking to introduce at Boeing Commercial Airplanes. The others are developing and executing a safety and quality plan, and inculcating a new culture at the company. Pope says that she has confidence in the safety and quality plan as it is based on input primarily from employees, with 30,000 items of feedback collected from Boeing's workforce. "Those items are what generated the genesis of the plan, and you can think of the summary of the plan as increasing our investment in training and employee proficiency skill enhancement," she says. "You can think about it as simplifying our business processes and procedures or build plans, reducing the defects across our supply chain and across our factories, as well as increasing our production compliance and elevating our safety and quality culture as well as deploying SMS [safety management systems] throughout the entire company." Pope says that achieving predictable deliveries has been based on time listening to customers who have walked through the US OEM's safety and quality plans in detail. "They're very, very supportive. They recognise this isn't minor change, this is a transformational change," she notes, adding that Boeing has been forced to slow down its production "pretty significantly to execute that change". Pope's third priority has been to introduce what she describes as a "just culture", where employees are provided with the tools, training and parts they need to be successful, and have a responsibility to follow the processes put in place and "speak up". "Speak up if they need help, speak up if they see a hazard, or a defect that could create a safety issue. It's all about engagement and empowerment and accountability," she adds. Pope says that despite the production slowdown, the company's backlog remains "incredibly strong" and is sold out to the end of the decade. Asked about any concerns she had about Boeing losing market share during this period, Pope says market share is "defined by airplane deliveries" and that the changes being made at the company are to stabilise production and increase deliveries.