By Bjorn Fehrm

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Introduction

March 26, 2018, © Leeham News: Boeing’s NMA or 797 is taking final form ahead of a decision to essentially launch the program with an Authority to Offer (ATO), widely believed to be later this year.

In the first article, we looked at the key characteristics of the design. We also looked at the engine situation in a couple of articles.

Now we round up the series with analyzing the potential economics of the aircraft. 

Figure 1. The first sketch of the smaller 797-6X with 224 seats. Source: JonOstrower.com

Summary:

• The projected 797 would have competitive Cash Operating Costs compared with a modern Single Aisle aircraft like the Airbus A321LR.
• The challenge is the capital costs. The A320/A321 and Boeing's 737 MAX models are produced in numbers passing 10,000. An NMA would be successful if produced in 1,000 units. This leads to higher production costs for the numerically smaller series.
• The focus from Boeing is therefore on lowering Production costs and on finding Services revenue which can help the 797 business case.