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By Bjorn Fehrm

Introduction

Dec. 8, 2022, © Leeham News: In a previous article, we started speculating what an NMA type of aircraft would look like based on a Boeing 767 cross-section. An airliner’s cross-section decides the design of a large number of parts in an airplane.

In essence, a fuselage is a tube with a constant cross-section where the constant parts are repeated framewise to form the fuselage. It’s finished with a tapering forward cockpit and a rear tapering empennage.

We now look at what could have been a passenger version of an NMA that would have used the Boeing 767 cross-section with adaptations. To understand its economic impact, we make a comparison where we take a standard 767-300ER, then modify it to an NMA type fuselage and compare it to the competition in the size class, the A330-200 and -800.

As before, we do this by flying the world’s busiest long-haul route, London Heathrow, to New York JFK.

Summary

• An NMA based on an improved 767 fuselage cross-section would have been a very competitive airliner
• I would be the ideal replacement for the Boeing 757, 767, and 787-8.