Expect ‘a lot of activity’ surrounding Boeing’s MAX planes this week

Jun 19, 2017, 12:51 PM

A man walks past a Boing 787-10 Dreamliner at Paris Air Show, on the eve of its opening, in Le Bourget, east of Paris, France, Sunday, June 18, 2017. While Airbus and Boeing will again hog the spotlight at the Paris Air Show with their battle for ever-larger slices of the lucrative pie in the sky, a lot of the really interesting stuff will be going on elsewhere at next week's massive biennial aviation and defense industry gathering. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)

People look at a Wing Loong II drones, a Chinese made medium-altitude long-endurance unmanned aerial vehicle, at Paris Air Show, on the eve of its opening, in Le Bourget, east of Paris, France, Sunday, June 18, 2017. While Airbus and Boeing will again hog the spotlight at the Paris Air Show with their battle for ever-larger slices of the lucrative pie in the sky, a lot of the really interesting stuff will be going on elsewhere at next week's massive biennial aviation and defense industry gathering. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)

A man looks out of the door of a Embraer E195-E2 prototype, developed by Brazilian aerospace company Embraer, at Paris Air Show, on the eve of its opening, in Le Bourget, east of Paris, France, Sunday, June 18, 2017. While Airbus and Boeing will again hog the spotlight at the Paris Air Show with their battle for ever-larger slices of the lucrative pie in the sky, a lot of the really interesting stuff will be going on elsewhere at next week's massive biennial aviation and defense industry gathering. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)

Aircrafts gather at the tarmac of the Paris Air Show, on the eve of its opening, in Le Bourget, east of Paris, France, Sunday, June 18, 2017. While Airbus and Boeing will again hog the spotlight at the Paris Air Show with their battle for ever-larger slices of the lucrative pie in the sky, a lot of the really interesting stuff will be going on elsewhere at next week's massive biennial aviation and defense industry gathering. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)

French President Emmanuel Macron is seated in the cockpit of an Airbus A400M turboprop transport plane while flying from Villacoublay military airbase near Paris to Le Bourget airport, north of Paris, Monday, June 19, 2017. Macron landed Monday at the Bourget airfield in an Airbus A400-M military transport plane to launch the aviation showcase, where the latest Boeing and Airbus passenger jets will vie for attention with a F-35 warplane, drones and other and high-tech hardware. (AP Photo/Michel Euler, Pool)

French President Emmanuel Macron, center left, listens to Emeric d'Arcimoles, center right, after exiting an Airbus A400M turboprop transport plane as part of the Paris Air Show in Le Bourget, north of Paris, Monday, June 19, 2017. Macron landed Monday at the Bourget airfield in an Airbus A400-M military transport plane to launch the aviation showcase, where the latest Boeing and Airbus passenger jets will vie for attention with a F-35 warplane, drones and other and high-tech hardware. (AP Photo/Michel Euler, Pool)

French President Emmanuel Macron poses with a model of Ariane 6 with French astronaut Thomas Pesquet while visiting the Paris Air Show in Le Bourget, north of Paris, Monday, June 19, 2017. The Ariane 6 is a launch vehicle under development by the European Space Agency (ESA), with a first test flight scheduled for 2020. (AP Photo/Michel Euler, Pool)

French President Emmanuel Macron visits the Paris Air Show in Le Bourget, north of Paris, with the President and CEO of Airbus, Fabrice Brégier, right, Monday, June 19, 2017. Macron landed Monday at the Bourget airfield in an Airbus A400-M military transport plane to launch the aviation showcase, where the latest Boeing and Airbus passenger jets will vie for attention with a F-35 warplane, drones and other and high-tech hardware. (AP Photo/Michel Euler, Pool)

French President Emmanuel Macron, left, poses with French astronaut Thomas Pesquet and European Space Agency (ESA) Director General, Johann-Dietrich Woerner, right, while visiting the Paris Air Show in Le Bourget, north of Paris, Monday, June 19, 2017. Macron landed Monday at the Bourget airfield in an Airbus A400-M military transport plane to launch the aviation showcase, where the latest Boeing and Airbus passenger jets will vie for attention with a F-35 warplane, drones and other and high-tech hardware. (AP Photo/Michel Euler, Pool)

French President Emmanuel Macron exits the cockpit of a Rafale jet fighter helped by Dassault Aviation CEO Eric Trappier, right, while visiting the Paris Air Show in Le Bourget, north of Paris, Monday, June 19, 2017. Macron landed at the Bourget airfield in an Airbus A400-M military transport plane to launch the aviation showcase, where the latest Boeing and Airbus passenger jets will vie for attention with an F-35 warplane, drones and other and high-tech hardware. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)

French President Emmanuel Macron leaves a Falcon 8X while visiting the Paris Air Show in Le Bourget, north of Paris, Monday, June 19, 2017. Macron landed Monday at the Bourget airfield in an Airbus A400-M military transport plane to launch the aviation showcase, where the latest Boeing and Airbus passenger jets will vie for attention with an F-35 warplane, drones and other and high-tech hardware. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)

French President Emmanuel Macron sits in the cockpit of a Rafale jet fighter and listens to Dassault Aviation CEO Eric Trappier while visiting the Paris Air Show in Le Bourget, north of Paris, Monday, June 19, 2017. Macron landed at the Bourget airfield in an Airbus A400-M military transport plane to launch the aviation showcase, where the latest Boeing and Airbus passenger jets will vie for attention with an F-35 warplane, drones and other and high-tech hardware. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)

French President Emmanuel Macron, second left, listens to Dassault Aviation CEO Eric Trappier, center, while visiting the Paris Air Show in Le Bourget, north of Paris, Monday, June 19, 2017. Macron landed at the Bourget airfield in an Airbus A400-M military transport plane to launch the aviation showcase. At left is French politician Olivier Dassault, his father Dassault chairman Serge Dassault stands at second right, and Charles Edelstenne, general manager of Dassault Group. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)

French President Emmanuel Macron, left, listens to Dassault Aviation CEO Eric Trappier, center, and Dassault chairman Serge Dassault, right, while visiting the Paris Air Show in Le Bourget, north of Paris, Monday, June 19, 2017. Macron landed at the Bourget airfield in an Airbus A400-M military transport plane to launch the aviation showcase. At left is French politician Olivier Dassault. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)

French President Emmanuel Macron, second right, shakes hands with French soldiers as he visits the Paris Air Show in Le Bourget, north of Paris, Monday, June 19, 2017. Macron landed at the Bourget airfield in an Airbus A400-M military transport plane to launch the aviation showcase. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)

French President Emmanuel Macron, left, visits the Paris Air Show with Tom Enders, Chief Executive Officer of Airbus Group, in Le Bourget, north of Paris, Monday, June 19, 2017. Macron landed at the Bourget airfield in an Airbus A400-M military transport plane to launch the aviation showcase. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)

BY KIRO NEWSRADIO NEWSDESK

KIRO Newsradio staff

The Paris Air Show is on and Boeing has a new plane.

We keep hearing about a worldwide slowdown in demand for passenger jets, and we all want to know is how Boeing is going to respond.

Boeing’s Vice President of Marketing Randy Tinseth says that response is in the form of a larger 737 MAX.

“We launched the new airplane today. It’s an airplane that is a littler larger than the other airplanes in our MAX family,” he said. “We think this is a great opportunity to grow our orders, to grow our backlog. We think this is good for Renton, we think this is good news for all our employees.”

According to CNN, Boeing’s board of directors gave the go-ahead to develop the new “super-stretched version” of the MAX. The new plane, according to CNN, will seat up to 230 passengers.

The announcement comes as the competition between Boeing and France-based Airbus continues to heat up. During the first day of the air show, Airbus unveiled a new version of the world’s largest passenger jet — the A380plus.

Tinseth recognizes the competition, and says the public will see “a lot of activity around the MAX family over the next few days.” He says to expect orders and commitments for more than 200 airplanes during the air show.

Listen to the entire interview with Tinset here.

Dave Ross

Ross: Tracking employees’ vital signs at work via privacy pods, what could go wrong?

I saw a Bloomberg story about the latest innovation to reduce your stress level at work: Privacy pods.

18 days ago

Dave Ross

Ross: Are we killing car culture? Or is car culture killing the US?

I don’t think the question is whether we're going to "kill" our car culture. The real question is can we stop our car culture from killing the U.S.?

25 days ago

Dave Ross

Ross: As cars release driving data to insurance, is your driving my business?

Every move you make, every swerve you take, every lane change you fake – someone’s watching you. Do drivers have a right to keep driving data private?

1 month ago