Project Management Case Studies, 7th Edition

Part 22INDUSTRY SPECIFIC: THE COMMERCIAL AIRCRAFT INDUSTRY

The cost to design and develop a long-distance commercial aircraft is measured in the billions of dollars. The life expectancy of the planes is measured in decades, and a project manager could spend an entire career on just one aircraft.

In 1970, Boeing launched the 747 aircraft with the expectation of selling 400 planes. It has since sold 1,523 planes and has orders for 51 more. The Boeing 747 had a monopoly on the long-distance market for almost 40 years. But with 4 billion people expected to travel by air by 2030, the competition between Boeing and Airbus has increased. The three most recent aircraft in the long- and medium-distance marketplace are shown in Table I.

TABLE I THREE AIRCRAFT SERVING THE LONG- AND MEDIUM-DISTANCE MARKET

Plane	Orders	Delivered
Boeing 777	1,893	1,424
Boeing 787	1,161	445
Airbus A380	319	193

Aircraft manufacturers have been pressured to design new planes with more fuel-efficient engines, more advanced technologies, and customer expectations of more amenities. But as expected, with any new technologies come risks, especially safety risks. Safety risks cannot always be identified through simulation and ground testing. Only through the actual use of the commercial aircraft can safety issues be addressed and resolved. For the project managers, safety could very well be the most important constraint on their projects.

Boeing 787 Dreamliner Battery Issues

THE SAFETY CONSTRAINT ...