May 11, 2009, Geneva, Switzerland - Boeing has announced that the BBJ Convertible is now available to prospective customers. The airplane reconfigures from all-passenger to all-cargo configuration in less than eight hours.
Multi-mission Capability
Governments, corporations and private individuals can quickly change from transporting VIPs, staff or troops to delivering disaster-relief supplies or configuring for medical evacuation. There is room for transporting tools, parts and machinery; race cars or race horses; or equipment for touring bands and musicians.
Overhead Space Kitted for Flexibility
Boeing recently finalized an agreement with Greenpoint Technologies to provide 747-8 VIP owners and their chosen completion centers with a kit that adds 75 square-meters of space to the airplane's crown. The Overhead Space Utilization or OSU kit is installed post production above the main cabin ceilings between doors three and five. The kit includes stairs from the main deck to the space above. Greenpoint offers three artistically engineered OSU designs.
BBJ Performance Improvements Set
BBJ owners receiving their airplanes after mid-2011 will reduce fuel consumption by 2 percent through a combination of airframe and engine improvements that Boeing announced in late April. Airplane structural improvements will reduce drag on the airplane, reducing fuel use by about 1 percent.
Boeing's engine partner, CFM is contributing a further one per cent fuel savings through hardware changes to its CFM56-7B Evolution engine.
Hill Announces Retirement
Steven Hill, president of Boeing Business Jets since August 2004, will retire in July after 35 years with Boeing. Taking Hill's place is Stephen R. Taylor, currently the BBJ chief pilot. Taylor has held positions as a production flight test pilot for Boeing Commercial Airplanes, served as a captain for Boeing executive flight operations and was a self-employed BBJ pilot for two years. Taylor joined The Boeing Company in 1991 as a flight operations engineer.
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