Seattle ? Boeing Co. has decided to scrap its proposed high-speed Sonic Cruiser passenger jet in favor of developing a more-traditional but highly fuel-efficient airliner, the head of Boeing Commercial Airplanes said Friday.

Commercial airplanes chief executive Alan Mulally, a graduate of Lawrence High School and Kansas University, said that while airlines had shown interest in the high-tech cruiser, they felt the fuel-efficient plane was more important.

Although no orders have been received for either plane, Mulally said Boeing estimates the eventual market for the as-yet unnamed midsized plane could reach 2,000 to 3,000 jets. He said Boeing hoped to launch the plane in 2004.

The Sonic Cruiser project, announced in March 2001, was envisioned as a midsized jet carrying about 250 passengers that could travel near the speed of sound and shave two or three hours off international flights. The concept was unveiled as Boeing shelved previous plans to develop a larger version of the 747 jumbo jet.

But even though it wouldn’t have started flying before 2008, the timing proved bad as airlines struggled to stay in business amid the worst downturn in commercial aviation history.

No airline has ordered the plane, which with its huge triangular wing, twin vertical fins and small canards or forward wings would be one of the most radical designs in the history of commercial aviation.

Boeing has for months said it was considering both the Sonic Cruiser and the more conventional jet. Both planes would carry between 200 and 250 passengers more than 8,500 miles.

Boeing has said it could incorporate some of the technologies developed for the Sonic Cruiser, such as lighter-weight materials, in the more conventional, fuel-efficient alternative.

Boeing operates a Wichita facility that employs about 15,000 people. The company is the state’s largest private employer.

It’s unknown how much of the work on the Sonic Cruiser would have been done in Wichita.