Aerospace giant Boeing said today it had halted development of a 520-seat superjumbo jet and instead will build a smaller, more modern jet that will travel at just under the speed of sound.
In one fell swoop, Seattle-based Boeing has ceded the top of the jetliner market it dominated for 35 years with its 747 to Airbus Industrie's 555-seat A380, and aimed a body blow at its European rival, which currently has no answer for the new plane.
The new plane, shown in concept art sporting a futuristic triangle-shaped delta-wing, will fly at Mach .95, or 95 per cent of the speed of sound, which is about 740 miles per hour, depending on air temperature and altitude.
"This is the airplane our customers have asked us to concentrate on," Mr Alan Mulally, Boeing's Chief Executive of commercial airplanes said in a statement.
"They share our view that this new airplane could change the way the world flies as dramatically as did the introduction of the jet age," Mr Mulally said.
The new jet, which does not have an official designation but Mr Mulally referred to as the "Sonic Cruiser", would save transatlantic travelers 90 minutes each way and 3 hours on flights from the western United States to Asia, Mr Mulally said.
The new plane will also fly at heights up to 41,000 feet, several thousand feet higher than the current commercial fleet, boosting efficiency and avoiding tie-ups with slower traffic, Mr Mulally said.
The Sonic Cruiser is expected to take to the skies in 2006 or 2008. Seating capacity had not been finalized, though Mr Mulally said it would likely carry between 175 and 250 passengers, between Boeing's 767 and 777 models.