Boeing finishes new design for freighter version of 747

A year after the program was launched, Boeing announced Tuesday it has finalized the design of the freighter version of the newest and largest version of its iconic 747 jumbo jet.

In a teleconference with reporters, 747 program vice president Dan Mooney predicted a little more hesitantly than Boeing has in the past that a launch order for the passenger model of the new 747-8 will come this year.

"We potentially could have an order by the end of this year," Mooney said. "Confident is too strong a word."

Mooney also said the precise configuration of the passenger version — its design recently stretched in fuselage length to match the freighter version — won't be finalized for six more months as Boeing and the airlines consider whether the extra seating capacity is preferable to a little extra range.

One key customer, Emirates, which has already ordered 10 of the freighters, has publicly stated its preference for the previous longer-range, slightly shorter fuselage design in the passenger model. That would allow the airline to fly with a full load from its hub in Dubai to the West Coast and to Houston.

However, other prospective customers, including British Airways and Lufthansa, don't need that extra couple of hundred miles for their routes and would prefer to take the extra revenue from the larger capacity that is for now the baseline.

Mooney said that the airlines were somewhat divided, but that "the majority would prefer the better economics."

He also said no airlines have expressed any interest in Boeing's "sky-suite" bedrooms idea, which would have seen first-class futon-style sleeping quarters located in the roof space above economy class.

The key problem: those first-class passengers would have had to go to bed via a staircase in economy class.

The new jumbo will however still offer a mood-lit, spacious 787-style interior, Mooney said.

Boeing has received 44 orders for the 747-8 freighter, plus three orders for customized VIP versions of the passenger jet.

Mooney said Boeing is on schedule to deliver the first freighter to Cargolux of Luxembourg in the latter half of 2009, with the first passenger delivery about a year later.

Dominic Gates: 206-464-2963 or dgates@seattletimes.com