Boeing, Airbus ditch aluminum: Next-gen jets to fly on lightweight thermoplastics
Currently, popular models like the Airbus A320 and Boeing 737 families continue to dominate the market.
In a quiet yet significant shift, Airbus and Boeing are rethinking their approaches to aircraft manufacturing in preparation for the next generation of passenger jets.
Both companies have set ambitious production targets designed to transform the aerospace landscape, focusing on new materials and advanced manufacturing processes that could redefine how airplanes are built.
Currently, popular models like the Airbus A320 and Boeing 737 families continue to dominate the market, confirming their substantial order books.
However, the aerospace giants are working diligently behind the scenes to create the groundwork for their future successors.
Replacing aluminum with thermoplastics
While these next-gen narrow-body aircraft won’t hit the market soon, supply chain challenges and advanced engine development needs mean that launches are still several years away.
Nevertheless, a noteworthy manufacturing revolution is unfolding.
At a recent conference in Paris centered on composites, Reuters reported that the two manufacturers revealed their extraordinary production ambitions.
Airbus and Boeing are fine-tuning their supply chains to ramp up to a production rate of 80 aircraft per month, more than doubling Boeing’s current output and surpassing Airbus’s previously delayed targets of 75 monthly deliveries.