Boeing Delays Delivery of 787 Dreamliner Until 2009

[Wretched Excess]

Boeing Delays Delivery of 787 Dreamliner Until 2009

 Jan. 16 (Bloomberg) -- Boeing Co. postponed the first delivery of its 787 Dreamliner until early 2009, the second setback for the company's most successful new jetliner by sales.

Delivery of the first Dreamliner to All Nippon Airways Co. was moved from as late as the end of December, Chicago-based Boeing said in a statement today sent on PR Newswire. The 787's maiden flight, which had been moved from August to the end of March, will now take place near the end of this year's second quarter, the planemaker said.

The Dreamliner program, already six months behind schedule, has been hurt by parts shortages and assembly delays. Boeing has racked up 817 orders for the jetliner valued at more than $120 billion at list prices. Boeing, the world's second-biggest commercial airplane maker, said today there will be ``no material impact'' on its earnings forecast for 2008.

``We are deeply disappointed by what this delay means for our customers, and we are committed to working closely with them as we assess the impact on our delivery schedules,'' Scott Carson, chief executive officer of Boeing's commercial aircraft business, said in the statement.

The delay could hinder plans to deliver 109 Dreamliners by the end of 2009 and cost the planemaker millions of dollars in penalty payments to customers. Boeing had said on Dec. 11 it still anticipated shipping the 787 by late November or December.

Previous Delay

The company on Oct. 10 delayed first delivery by six months because of parts shortages and so it could complete work suppliers should have finished. Less than a week later, Boeing replaced Michael Bair, who had been responsible for the Dreamliner since the project began in July 2004, with Pat Shanahan.

Boeing is building more than half of the plane with carbon- fiber composites instead of aluminum, making it the first airliner of its kind. The Dreamliner is also Boeing's first attempt at a production process where suppliers deliver fully completed wing and fuselage parts.

Boeing fell $3.81, or 4.7 percent, to $77.86 yesterday in New York Stock Exchange composite trading, the biggest decline since June 9, 2003. The shares have dropped 12 percent in the past year. Airbus SAS is the world's biggest commercial airplane maker.

Linky

The airbus vs. boeing/A380 vs. 787 thing has always fascinated me. 

and besides, I wanted to be the first to break in in the business forum.

[PatriotGame]

Ok, I get sloppy seconds.
I talked to some Boeing union guys in Portland last week. Seems the Dreamliner is quite the plane and they are "excited"  about the Dreamliner. One of them said "Boeing sucks because they make me work one hour per eight hour shift!"

[Wretched Excess]

Oh crimey, an entire forum to whine about unions  lets avoid that many of the problems stem from contracting and sub-contracting  tis all good though 

nah.  I was whining about the freaking frogs.