Boeing to delay first delivery of 787

[JODO 2]

Reuters

Boeing to delay first delivery of 787

Wednesday October 10, 1:36 pm ET

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Boeing Co (NYSE:BA - News) on Wednesday pushed back first deliveries of its 787 Dreamliner by at least six months as it struggles to assemble the new lightweight, carbon-composite plane.

The delay is an embarrassing setback for Boeing, which has for months insisted it would meet its delivery timetable, and mirrors delays suffered by rival Airbus (Paris:EAD.PA - News) on its A380 superjumbo.

Boeing, which has orders for more than 700 of the 787 planes from 48 airlines and leasing companies, said the delay would not affect earnings and it kept its financial forecast for this year and next unchanged.

Boeing shares fell $3.10, or 3.1 percent, to $98.35 on the New York Stock Exchange. Shares of key suppliers like Spirit Aerosystems Holdings Inc (NYSE:SPR - News) and Rockwell Collins Inc (NYSE:COL - News) also fell.

The Chicago-based company said 787 deliveries are slated to begin in late November or December 2008, versus an original target of May 2008.

The delay is a blow to Japan's All Nippon Airways Co (Tokyo:9202.T - News), the first 787 customer, which was hoping to ferry passengers to next summer's Beijing Olympic Games in the initial planes of its planned 50-strong 787 fleet.

FIRST FLIGHT ALSO PUT BACK

Boeing blamed the delivery delay on continuing problems with flight control software, being produced by Honeywell International Inc (NYSE:HON - News), and integrating other systems on the plane, which it did not detail. It said it now expects the first test flight of the 787 to take place "around the end of the first quarter" next year, suggesting it could be as late as March or even April 2008.

[Fuzzness 2]

the problem i believe is with the elasticity of the new material being used. it needs to be able to expand, and this stuff don't

[Jaseball 0]

Remind me not to fly any 787's for quite some time until they work these problems out.

[Dan J 277]

Remind me not to fly any 787's for quite some time until they work these problems out.

With all the regulation and testing that goes into airplanes, I wouldn't be too worried about it. The plane wont be released if there are significant problems with materials or other systems on the airplane. But composite materials have already been used on military jets.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

Welcome to Airbus' world.

[Dan J 277]

Welcome to Airbus' world.

No kidding, but the A380 is finally entering commercial service on October 25th with Singapore Airlines.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

Welcome to Airbus' world.

No kidding, but the A380 is finally entering commercial service on October 25th with Singapore Airlines.

Yeah but it was supposed to be flying commercially for some time by now. They had a series of issues with that one, too.

Can't wait to fly on one of those once. Their gigantic.

[Logres 0]

Welcome to Airbus' world.

No kidding, but the A380 is finally entering commercial service on October 25th with Singapore Airlines.

Yeah but it was supposed to be flying commercially for some time by now. They had a series of issues with that one, too.

Can't wait to fly on one of those once. Their gigantic.

Correction:

"They're Gigantic"

[Nagishkaw 510]

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

Welcome to Airbus' world.

No kidding, but the A380 is finally entering commercial service on October 25th with Singapore Airlines.

Yeah but it was supposed to be flying commercially for some time by now. They had a series of issues with that one, too.

Can't wait to fly on one of those once. Their gigantic.

Correction:

"They're Gigantic"

Oops. That is truly embarrassing.

[Jasman0717 9]

Remind me not to fly any 787's for quite some time until they work these problems out.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

Remind me not to fly any 787's for quite some time until they work these problems out.

Where's the adventure spirit?

[Fuzzness 2]

the A380 posed serious problems when it began and does now. it will make a lot of other landings delayed because of its

size. a bad idea.

Edited October 10, 2007 by Fuzzness

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

the A380 posed serious problems when it began and does now. it will make a lot of other landings delayed because of its

size. a bad idea.

Southeast Asia doesn't seem to think so.

[pervez 4]

the A380 posed serious problems when it began and does now. it will make a lot of other landings delayed because of its

size. a bad idea.

On the contrary I think, a great idea. If you need to move 2000 people between cities A & B then the less planes you do it in the better it is. The time for approach, landing and taxiing is the same, just about, the only real difference maybe being the offloading and loading time of the "self loading cargo" but with 2 level bridges, that's not going to be a great problem.

The delays on the 380 were mainly due to electric cables that were manufactured too short. Instead making a cable patch to extend them, Airbus opted to scrap the too short ones and manufacture whole new ones.

Had something to do with interference/restistance in the cables.

If we go to the 787 and the composites than military planes have been produced out of composites in the US for over 20 years so there's experience with these materials there. If there were some fundamental problems as with the elasticity of the material being used for production of major assemblies, then rest assured: 1. They'd have found out a long way back. 2. They'd be pushing the deliveries back a lot more than just 6 months. 3. FAA would not be thrilled and the plane would never fly without it being as safe, or safer than current aircraft.