Hexcel is pointing to a possible shift in the next high-rate narrowbody aircraft family from composite wings to a carbon-fibre fuselage, as Airbus and Boeing prepare for the next generation of single-aisle production. The materials group’s chief executive framed the fuselage as the open question, with wing composites already viewed as the likely baseline and potential output across narrowbody and A220 lines reaching around 150 aircraft a month.
The forecast links improved performance, lower fuel burn and easier maintenance with broader use of carbon fibre on future aircraft. Hexcel estimates narrowbody composite content could rise from about 15% on current designs to roughly 30% with composite wings, and as high as 50% if the fuselage also moves to composites.
That would sharply lift the material content per shipset. Hexcel put today’s narrowbody shipset value at about $200,000 to $500,000, increasing to roughly $1.5 million to $2 million in a more composite-heavy configuration. The view remains speculative, however: no programme selection, certification plan or timetable for a composite fuselage has been set out.