Boeing selects GKN to build 737 MAX advanced technology winglet
LONDON, December 3, 2013 – Boeing [NYSE: BA] has selected GKN plc to manufacture the Advanced Technology Winglet for the 737 MAX.
Production of the winglets will take place at the GKN site at Cowes on the Isle of Wight in the United Kingdom with final assembly at GKN's facility in Orangeburg, South Carolina. Already a market success, the 737 MAX has more than 1,600 orders from airlines around the world.
“We announced our first winglet contracts for Boeing aircraft in 2007 and this award reflects the on-going success of our growing relationship,” said Marcus Bryson, CEO, GKN Aerospace and Land Systems. “It also draws on our expertise in the efficient manufacture of complex composite and metallic wing structures and makes full use of our ability to assemble this advanced structure. We are extremely proud to be part of the team that is producing this unique winglet – and to be involved with Boeing in creating this extremely efficient next-generation airframe."
Boeing’s newest family of single-aisle aircraft, the 737 MAX will build on the Next-Generation 737’s popularity and reliability while delivering to customers unsurpassed fuel efficiency in the single-aisle market. Development of the 737 MAX is on schedule with firm configuration achieved in July 2013. First flight is scheduled in 2016 with deliveries to customers beginning in 2017. GKN will deliver the first developmental winglet ship sets to Boeing in 2015.
UK Business Minister Michael Fallon said "This significant deal creates and secures hundreds of high skilled, long term engineering jobs on the Isle of Wight and across GKN's domestic supply chain. It also further strengthens the ties between Boeing and the UK, showing that this country can continue to be the supplier of choice to the world's leading aircraft manufacturers. That's why the Government is working in partnership with industry to deliver jobs and growth through our industrial strategy."
Boeing’s Advanced Technology Winglet is one of a number of design updates that will result in less drag and further optimize the 737 MAX performance, especially on longer-range missions. In total these updates will deliver an 8 percent per-seat operating cost advantage over future competition.1
“Boeing is pleased that this agreement will build on our existing strong relationship with GKN,” said Sir Roger Bone, President of Boeing in the UK. “As Boeing celebrates 75 years of partnership with the UK in 2013, this agreement helps to ensure that our strong relationship with the UK aerospace industry continues for many years to come.”
Two suppliers are manufacturing winglets for the 737 MAX programme, GKN and Korean Air Aerospace Division (KAL-ASD) in South Korea.
Boeing’s Current Market Outlook (www.boeing.com/cmo) forecasts a market for 24,670 single aisle airplanes, worth $2.29 trillion (£1.4 trillion) between 2013 and 2032.
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More information on the Advanced Technology winglet is here and a video about it is available at here.
1 – cost advantage over future competition based on U.S. Domestic rules, 500-nautical mile mission, two-class seating, fuel price at $3.50 per U.S. gallon, 737 MAX 8.
Boeing employs around 1,500 people across the UK at numerous sites, from Glasgow to Gosport, and the company is experiencing solid organic growth. In 2013 Boeing celebrates 75 years of partnership with the United Kingdom, the Armed Forces, British manufacturing and the air transport industry, with more information on the anniversary available at www.boeing.co.uk/75. Research by Oxford Economics found that Boeing’s activities support a total of 55,700 jobs in the UK, with 9,200 of them in the UK supply chain. More information on this research is available at www.boeing.co.uk/value.
Today the UK remains a critically important market, supplier base and a source of some of the world’s most inventive technology partners. Boeing’s expenditure with the UK aerospace industry averages $1billion per year and supports tens of thousands of jobs, in the process enhancing skills, facilitating exports and generating intellectual property. For more information visit www.boeing.co.uk.
GKN plc is a global engineering group. It has four divisions; GKN Driveline, GKN Powder Metallurgy, GKN Aerospace and GKN Land Systems, which operate in the automotive, aerospace and land systems markets. Approximately 48,000 people work in GKN companies and joint ventures in more than 30 countries. GKN is listed on the London Stock Exchange (LSE: GKN) and recorded sales of GBP6.9 billion in the year to 31 December 2012. GKN Aerospace is a global first tier supplier of airframe structures, engine components, transparencies and fuel/flotation systems, with sales of $3.5 billion and a global workforce approaching 12,000. It has a significant participation on all major aircraft programmes today and a broad customer base spanning commercial, military, business aerospace and space markets. The company’s extensive engineering capability and clear focus on targeted innovation has created technological and manufacturing leads in each of its areas of expertise.
Contact:
Matthew Knowles
International Corporate Communications
+44 20 7340 1931
matt.knowles@boeing.com
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