Boeing 717

format_list_bulleted Contenido keyboard_arrow_down

ImprimirCitar

The Boeing 717 is the smallest aircraft from Boeing Commercial Airplanes and is powered by Rolls-Royce BR700 engines. It entered service in 1999 to compete in the 100-seat market. It is the model that was known before the merger of McDonnell Douglas with Boeing as the MD-95, which in turn was a development of the Douglas DC-9. On January 14, 2005, Boeing announced that in 2006 it would close the Boeing 717 assembly line, located in Long Beach (California).

After the launch of the 720, it seemed that Boeing had ruled out using the designation 717, although in reality 717 was the numbering that Boeing had previously given to the military version of the 720. B-707, although later the United States Air Force changed it to the KC-135 Stratotanker. It was also used to sell the prototype design of the B-727 to airlines, although it was later changed to that name. This left the designation 717 available, before the MD-95 was renamed.

Development

Background

The third part of the 20th century was difficult for aircraft manufacturers. Once the undisputed market leader, Douglas faced problems with sales of its Douglas DC-8 aircraft and strong competition from the 737 against its DC-9. The job of financing the production of the future wide-body three-jet, the DC-10, proved to be very difficult, so the firm was forced to join the military specialist McDonnell in 1967.

AirTran Airways Boeing 717 at Boston Airport.

Even after the corporate merger, McDonnell Douglas (MDC) continued to fight for its existence: the DC-8 production line closed in 1972; Seeking to enter the same specialized market, the DC-10 and its rival, the Lockheed Tristar, lost money. Only the DC-9 continued to sell well; by 1982 nearly 1,000 had been built, when it was lengthened and renamed the MD-80 Series. More than 1,100 MD-80s entered service during the 1980s and early 1990s. However, the next version, the MD-90, was not well received (only 117 were built). units), although this number is greater than the units sold of the 737-600 and A318, data that leaves us wondering if the problem was not the aircraft itself, but the lack of a family of aircraft that they will support her

Trouble Starts

The MD-95 (the aircraft that would eventually become the 717) was announced in 1991, initially as the MD-87-105, a cutaway version of the elongated MD-80 family that had returned to nearly the same size as the DC-9 Series 30 of the 1960s. It was soon renamed the MD-95 to reflect the anticipated first delivery date, at least in the event that MDC could not find an airline willing to place a firm order to start production by that date.

In October 1995, US low-cost airline ValuJet placed an order for 50 MD-95s, plus 50 options. Typically, a new aircraft has one or more large, reputable and well-established airlines as launch customers. Launching production of the MD-95 on the basis of a single order from a two-year-old fledgling company with dubious financials was highly optimistic, and was seen as a reflection of the difficulty MDC was having. in selling planes.

In December 1996, Boeing and McDonnell Douglas reached a $13 billion stock exchange agreement, and the merger became official the following year. Boeing discontinued the MDC commercial line, except only the MD-95, which was renamed the Boeing 717, and the freighter version of the MD-11.

Most industry observers expected the MD-95 to be abandoned soon as well. For starters, Boeing was no more successful than McDonnell Douglas in selling the 717, and even the original 50-unit order was not a certainty in the chaotic post-deregulation US airline market (one customer did not You just had to want a plane, you had to be able to afford it). In this case, ValuJet, now AirTran Airways, would achieve considerable success and now operates 73 717-200 aircraft, as well as 5 new 737-700 aircraft. Continue to accept deliveries of 717 and 737.

Boeing accepted a handful of small orders from leasing companies and smaller operators, and a second large order of 50 717s from TWA, but after the dramatic drop in airline traffic caused by the reaction to the incident of September 11 in the United States, Boeing announced a review of the future of the model.

After much deliberation, it was decided to proceed. Despite the lack of orders, Boeing was confident in the fundamental suitability of the 717 for the 100-seat market, and in the long-term size of that market. Additionally, the old Douglas plant in Long Beach was mostly idle (along with the 717, there were only a handful of C-17s to keep it busy). Perhaps most important of all, abandoning the 717 would mean leaving the 100-seat market to Airbus and its planned A318: from a market point of view, any airline Buying an A318 would have a strong reason to buy A320 and A321 instead of 737 to take advantage of the parts and crews, if the airline didn't have many 737s already in its fleet. Instead of using a 100-seat class aircraft, airlines would have to choose to use a larger aircraft, but occupying half the seats, half its fuel capacity, and henceforth, achieving more communion with other aircraft. of their fleets instead of having a wide range of aircraft.

Finding a gap, changing course

The wisdom of Boeing's decision gradually became apparent. Early operators of the 717 were delighted with the model's reliability and passenger appeal, and ordered more. The small Australian regional airline Impulse is one example. Impulse undertook a long-term lease of five 717s in the early 2000s and began an aggressive expansion on major routes. To the surprise of few, the ambitious move could not hold its own in competition with the majors, and Impulse was sold to Qantas in May 2001. This left Qantas with a handful of unwanted 'reheated DC-9s' for the first time. that broke the efficiency of its fleet of large Boeing jets and small BAe 146s.

In a few short months, however, the abilities of the 717 came to light. It is more spacious and faster than the BAe 146, cheaper to operate, and has achieved an excellent availability reliability of 99.6%. Maintenance costs are very low: a C check inspection, for example, takes just three days and is only required once every 4,500 flight hours (for comparison, the old DC-9, which It was always well regarded by engineering departments for its uncomplicated nature, it needed 21 days for the same verification). The design of the new Rolls Royce BR715 engine is highly modular: none of the line-replaceable units take more than an hour to change, and about a third of them can be changed in less than 15 minutes. Boeing claims a 10% operating cost advantage over the A318.

The result has been that many 717 operators, even accidental ones like Qantas, have converted to the model. Qantas has bought more 717s to increase its fleet to 14, and is the most advanced candidate to replace its large fleet of BAe 146s. Other significant orders have come from Hawaiian Airlines and Midwest Express, and Pembroke Leasing.

After 19 717 sales worldwide in 2000, and just 6 in 2001, Boeing received 32 717 orders in 2001, despite a massive industry slowdown.

The 100-seater market was crowded until 2001, but several potential competitors have disappeared. BAe canceled its Avro RJX (an updated BAe 146 with modern engines); Fairchild Dornier closed its doors, taking the 728/928 project, and Bombardier canceled its new BRJ in favor of a less ambitious 90-stretched CRJ seating.

The remaining players are Boeing itself, Airbus with its A318, and Embraer with the ERJ 195. The current world fleet is mostly made up of old twin-jets with relatively high costs, notable being the DC-9, first models of 737, and the Fokker 100, plus the most modern four-engine BAe 146, which is a prime possibility for refit.

End of production

In January 2005, Boeing announced that it planned to shut down the B-717 assembly line after completing the current order list, due to low sales of the aircraft.

This is due to increasing competition from regional aircraft builders, especially Embraer and Bombardier; plus competition from Airbus' A318, which is similar in size and very similar to other aircraft in the A320 family, meaning significant cost reduction.

The last B-717 manufactured rolled off the assembly line in May 2006 from the Long Beach (California) factory.

Components

References: skybrary.aero

Electronics

Motor and tail of a 717 Hawaiian Airlines.

A 717 QantasLink.


System	China	Notes
ADIRU		2
TAWS	Honeywell	EGPWS
RAAS (option 2004)	Honeywell	EGPWS
SmartLanding (option)	Honeywell	EGPWS MK V
SmartRunway (option)	Honeywell	EGPWS MK V
Transponder (option 2017)	Honeywell	TRA-100B
Flight Management System (FMS)	Honeywell

Propulsion


System	Country	China	Notes
Motor		Rolls-Royce Holdings	2 × BR715-C1-30

Operators

As of May 2020, a total of 142 Boeing 717-200 remained in service with the following airlines:

Australia

QantasLink (20)
Cobham Aviation (formerly National Jet) (20)

United States

Delta Air Lines (88)
Hawaiian Airlines (19)

The remaining 21 aircraft remain stored at the Victorville Airport, awaiting their destination.

Old Operators

A 717 AirTran Airways.

717 Volotea.

America

United States

AirTran Airways (89) - airline purchased by Southwest Airlines.
Trans World Airlines – 50 requested, of which 30 aircraft were delivered. American Airlines ended up buying the TWA, but selling the aircraft to AirTran Airways.
American Airlines (29)
Midwest Airlines (25)

Mexico Mexico

Mexicana Click

Asian

Thailand

Bangkok Airways (4)

Turkmenistan

Turkmenistan Airlines (7)

Oceania

Australia

Jetstar Airways (14) – were returned when they began receiving Airbus A320.
Impulse Airlines (7) – airline purchased by Qantas.

Europe

SpainSpain

Volotea (19)
Airlines of Baleares (5)
Spanair (4)

FinlandFinland

Blue1 (9)

GreeceGreece

Olympic Airlines (3)

Orders and deliveries

Orders

2004	2003	2002	2001	2000	1999	1998	1997	1996	1995
8	8	32	3	21	0	50	0	0	50

Deliveries

2006	2005	2004	2003	2002	2001	2000	1999	1998	1997
5	13	12	12	20	49	32	12	0	0

Reference: Boeing

Accidents and incidents

As of March 2009, the Boeing 717 has been involved in 5 incidents, with no total aircraft losses or fatalities. The incidents included a collision with terrain, and a hard landing and an attempted kidnapping.

In May 2016, a Boeing 717 from Delta Airlines that covered the Atlanta-Chicago route, landed in Nashville, after the deck of one of its engines separated from the plane in a turbulence, there were no casualties or deaths.

Specifications (717-200)

Data Reference: Boeing 717 Features 717 Airport Forecast Report Boeing Specifications 717

General Features

Triple: Two.
Capacity:
- 117 passengers in single class
- 106 passengers in two classes
Charge: 20.7 m3
Length: 37.8 m (124 ft)
Scope: 28.5 m (93.4 ft)
Height: 8.9 m (29.3 ft)
Elong surface: 93 m2 (1001.1 ft2)
Empty weight: 31 674 kg (69 809,5 lb)
Maximum weight at takeoff: 54 900 kg (120 999.6 lb)
Motriz plant: 2× turbofan Rolls Royce BR715-C1-30.
- Normal push: 93.4 kN (9525 kgf; 21 000 lbf) every push.
External cabin width: 3342 mm
Internal cabin width: 3145 mm