Boeing studying novel design for mid-market plane

Singapore

AIRCRAFT engine makers are placing bets that could reshape their industry for decades as Boeing weighs a novel design for an airplane with 240-250 seats - a neglected area of the jet market.

The plane is designed to fill a slender gap between narrow-body jets, which typically have 150-200 seats, and intercontinental planes with 250 or more. Competition to get onboard would usually be a skirmish for the big engine makers.

But technological bets and partnerships on that plane could reshape the engine industry for the next two …