Name: Bruce Dickinson
Title: Vice president and chief project engineer, 747 program
Company, city: The Boeing Co.; Chicago (headquarters); Everett, Wash. (747 factory)
Number of employees: More than 170,000 company-wide
Recent project: Director of engineering, 777 and 767 programs
First job: Stress analysis, Boeing C-17 side-of-body wing fairing
Little-known fact about you: I conducted onboard testing on more than 1,000 stall maneuvers during my days in flight testing.

Bruce Dickinson’s Business

Essential business philosophy: Transparency, authenticity and teamwork

Best way to keep a competitive edge: Never slow down, always improve and never stay satisfied.

Yardstick of success: Market-leading airplane capability, with market-leading dispatch reliability in service and a fully empowered team

Bruce Dickinson as a Traveler

What is the most important item you take when traveling? A completely customer-focused attitude

How do you spend your time on board? Absolutely loving the flying experience and evaluating each detail of the aircraft I am on, and the service of the airline

What is your favorite restaurant in the world? Gonpachi in Tokyo

What is your favorite destination in the world? Hong Kong

About The Boeing Co.

Recent industry reports suggest rising fuel costs are making four-engine planes redundant. What is Boeing’s view?

Fuel burn per seat for passenger airplanes, and fuel burn per cargocarried are the distinctive measures of airplane efficiency in the industry. The 747-8 has the lowest fuel-burn per seat and fuel-burn per cargo carried of any airplane in its class, so that makes this airplane enticing for any operator that needs aircraft of this size.

In addition, four-engine airplanes offer unique advantages compared to two-engine airplanes. In particular, the 747-8 has superior capability at high-altitude and hot-temperature airports. This flexibility allows airlines to operate out of challenging airports and provides greater capability to the operators.

There is market opportunity for large four-engine aircraft like the 747-8 to serve the large airplane market. The Boeing Current Market Outlook forecasts a 20-year demand for 760 large wide-body airplanes worth $280 billion.

What are your views on the future of the 747?

The 747-8 is an incredible airplane and it is only getting better. The in-service fleet has been performing very well since entry-into-service with exceptional dispatch reliability, utilization, and passenger feedback. To date, our customers have conducted revenue service at more than 100 airports around the world. In addition, it’s important to remember that the 747-8 Intercontinental has only been in revenue service for just over one year.

We are committed to and confident in the 747-8 and the value this airplane provides airlines and their customers, which is why we are currently performing our Performance Improvement Package program and are exploring additional improvements to incorporate into our airplane.