INTERVIEW

Jayant Baranwal, Editor-in-Chief, SP’s AirBuz speaks to Salil Gupte, President Boeing India, and Darren Hulst, Sr. Managing Director, Market Analysis & Sales Support, Boeing Commercial Airplanes at the unveiling of Boeing’s “2019 India Commercial Market Outlook”

Jayant Baranwal (Baranwal): How is Boeing connected with the ‘Make in India’ story?

Salil Gupte (Gupte): Boeing is a proud partner of ‘Make in India’. We are doing aeronautical development for commercial and defence airplanes and innovating through our engineering centres in Bengaluru with our 3,000 strong work-force. We are also robust on manufacturing, we have partnered with Tatas in Nagpur for manufacturing the advanced composite floor beams for Boeing 787. The floor beam is critical to the structure of the 787 airplane, it is a part of extremely complex manufacturing and very critical to one of the most advance airplanes in the world. Over 25,000 floor beams have been manufactured in the past decade.

Baranwal: Do you foresee the integration and execution of the entire airframe, as part of ‘Make in India’ in near future? Gupte: There’s no roadmap to shift airframe assembly outside of the United States. But, on the defence side, I want to share the example of Apache. The entire fuselage of Apache is manufactured in India, except the engine systems, engine transmission and weapon systems. The entire main part of the aircraft is Make-in-India and it is not just for India, but over the next couple of years, it will be made in India for the entire world. On the commercial side of the aircraft, we are focused on the critical parts of the aircraft.

Baranwal: How does Boeing perceive the Unmanned Taxi Service development?

Darren Hulst (Hulst): We are working on every sort of future technology, whether it is supersonic or urban mobility or any other futuristic mobility. We are looking at potential mobility and how complementing, it can be, to the existing air transport system. We are also looking at the evolution of the feeder network in the short-haul domestic market and how it can integrate and work with the manned and unmanned air taxis.

Baranwal: You mentioned supersonic, is Boeing engaged in that development?

Hulst: We are investing in technology and partnering in the market place with those who are investigating how we can potentially make it a commercial reality.

“WE ARE WORKING ON EVERY SORT OF FUTURE TECHNOLOGY, WHETHER IT IS SUPERSONIC OR URBAN MOBILITY OR ANY FUTURISTIC MOBILITY” —DARREN HULST, SENIOR

MANAGING DIRECTOR, MARKET ANALYSIS & SALES SUPPORT, BOEING COMMERCIAL AIRPLANES