Production considerations and availability dictated Boeing decision
Boeing Commercial Airplanes President and CEO, Jim Albaugh, confirmed that American Airlines has made commitments for 100 re-engined B737s and options for 60 more, and will be a launch customer for the aircraft, pending finalisation of the configuration and launch approval by the Boeing board. Boeing will complete initial designs this month and seek board approval in Aug-2011 (heraldnet.com, 21-Jul-2011). Mr Albaugh said Boeing's decision to re-engine the aircraft was dictated by the company's production system and how efficiently it could build up output of a new type compared to a re-engined aircraft. Production was a "stumbling block" as Boeing could not achieve the output levels that prospective launch customers were requesting (Gulf News, 22-Jul-2011).
Boeing Commercial Airplanes: "It came down to talking to customers, and when we talked to them about the prospect of a new airplane pushing out to the right, it became pretty apparent there was a bias to do something now, to do the new engine," Jim Albaugh, President and CEO. Source: Gulf News, 22-Jul-2011.