Fancy long-range 777s fit Singapore's swank service

The chief executive of Singapore Airlines, Chew Choon Seng, picked up two lavishly appointed long-range 777 jets in Everett on Tuesday.

On a rare Seattle visit, the influential playmaker in the world of commercial aviation offered his views on the fierce competition between Boeing and Airbus across the range of their products.

Chew gave a strong endorsement of the hot-selling twin-engine 777. And comments by key General Electric executives here for the event indicated Airbus could have trouble delivering a choice of engines for a proposed jet that would compete against the Boeing airplane.

Singapore is renowned as the world's premier airline-passenger service, with a fleet of modern jets boasting the latest high-tech features. It has 60 of the 777s, more than any other airline.

The two newest Singapore jets, sitting on Paine Field with icicles hanging from the wings, feature first-class seats that are sized like generous office cubicles and double as beds. More on that later.

However, in the next size up, the forthcoming Airbus A380 superjumbo interior promises to outdo even that luxury, so it appears the 747 jumbo is on the way out at Singapore, one of the A380 launch customers.

Chew offered what sounded like a eulogy for the 747, disappointing Boeing executives keen to sell him the newest passenger model of that jumbo jet.

The 747 has been "central to the Singapore success story — the Queen of the Skies," Chew said.

"However, time does not stand still. New products come along which are more cost-effective, more fuel-efficient and feature later technology. And so, much as we love [the 747], in time, its place will be taken."

Asked if he was ruling out the forthcoming larger and revamped 747-8, he hedged somewhat, saying it was "a plane of some interest to us."

But in a conversation later aboard one of the new airplanes, he made clear he'll buy the new 747 only if the troubled A380 program collapses completely.

"The 747-8 would be a lot more interesting to us should the A380 not make it into service, given the issues that have surrounded it," Chew said. "I don't think that will be an eventuality, but you never know."

Chew made comments that also bolstered Boeing's new midsized wide-body, the 787.

He indicated that while his airline has ordered 20 Airbus A350s as well as 20 of the new 787s, it is simply hedging its bets for now.

"Both planes are at this point in time in process of development," said Chew. "We shall see which one comes out best."

Right now, the 787 is far ahead, since Airbus is still struggling to finalize its plans for the A350.

Boeing's close 777 partnership with General Electric, which exclusively provides the engines for the latest long-range models, restricts Airbus' freedom to develop an engine for a proposed larger model of the A350.

Roger Seager, GE vice president of sales, who was in Everett for the 777 delivery, emphasized how closely aligned Boeing and GE are in the large wide-body market.

"There is an agreement on how we'll use the GE90 engine, and that ties us to the Boeing 777," said Seager, "It is a partnership. ... We've literally shared jointly in the airframe and the engine."

When Airbus announced in July its proposal to develop a 350-seater A350 to go head to head with the 365-seater 777-300ER, GE made clear it wouldn't provide an engine for that largest A350 model. That stance remains solid, though Airbus' plans on the A350 have shifted.

"We're protecting our investment," said Seager. "Why would we want to go and participate with another product that would compete directly?"

In the past year, 777 sales have all but squelched sales of the Airbus A340 long-range jets, powered by Rolls-Royce engines. In those sales campaigns, Boeing and GE fought jointly against Airbus and Rolls-Royce.

"Our team won that battle," said Thomas Wygle, GE's general manager of the GE90 engine program.

And Seager said Boeing and GE still hope to persuade Singapore Airlines to one day swap out its five A340-500s for 777-200LRs on the Singapore to New York route.

"It's something they've very seriously considered," said Seager, "and they've just decided to punt for now. ... They want to let things evolve a little bit longer before they make that decision."

Chew professed "an open mind" on the possibility of switching to Boeing for the ultra-long-range jets.

Singapore is recognized as offering the world's premier passenger service, and the new seats and state-of-the-art inflight-entertainment systems aboard the new 777s will further that reputation.

In coach class, the seats — priced at around $1,200 round-trip trans-Pacific — are fairly normal in size, with a little extra knee room and the trademark sense of overhead space common to any 777.

But Singapore's first-class seats at almost 3 feet wide could comfortably seat an adult and two small children — though that would require three paid fares of about $10,000 each for a round trip from San Francisco to Singapore.

The seat faces a TV screen that's 23 inches from corner to corner, as big as some home TVs. The seat flattens out to a bed that fully accommodates a person 6 feet 3 inches tall.

Before their introduction on the trans-Pacific San Francisco route, the airplanes will begin flying from Singapore to Paris; Milan, Italy; and Barcelona, Spain, next month.

Chew said those European destinations, the "fashion capitals of the world," offered a ready market for those lavish first-class beds, provisioned with Salvatore Ferragamo toiletries.

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