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• Buzz 737 in bright evening sunlight
• Ryanair 737-800 descending into STN in, well, not very good weather
• South African 'Ndizani' at Heathrow

See them all now in the 'photo page'!

Airlines look to 7E7

SEATTLE -- Airlines are warming up to The Boeing Co.'s proposed 7E7 jet as its design takes shape, but not one has volunteered yet to be the launch customer for the midsize jet, a Boeing executive said Thursday.

Boeing briefed representatives from more than 40 airlines and airplane financiers Wednesday and Thursday on the development of the proposed fuel-efficient jet. The aerospace manufacturer also unveiled a mock-up of the jet's interior.

"Nobody has come up to me and offered me a check and say, 'I want to be the first one,' " said John Feren, Boeing's vice president for customers for the 7E7 program.

But that's not the point of the two-day summit in Seattle, he said. Rather, it is to check in with customers and ensure that the developing design meets customers' needs, not to identify a launch customer, Feren said in a media briefing with executives from Cathay Pacific Airways and Lufthansa, who are attending the meetings.

The airline executives said Boeing's plans for the 7E7 are looking more attractive.

"Boeing has raised the bar in terms of the competitive nature with airplane manufacturers," said Peter Gardner, a vice president for Cathay Pacific Airways. "To match it, the competition is really going to have to stretch out."

Currently, Boeing proposes developing three versions of the 7E7 -- a short-range jet for distances of up to 4,000 miles, a base model for distances of up to 9,000 miles and a stretch version for distances of about 9,500 miles.

About 50 percent of the plane by weight will be composite materials, which resist corrosion and weigh much less than aluminum. The rest of the plane will be 20 percent aluminum, and 30 percent titanium, steel and other materials, compared to 12 percent composites, 70 percent aluminum and 18 percent other materials in Boeing's existing 777 jetliner.

Boeing's board of directors is to consider next month whether to offer the airplane for sale to airlines. "I don't see anything stopping us," Feren said.