Boeing to deliver test 787s to its customers

Boeing will deliver the six 787 aircraft used for flight-testing to its launch customers in order to keep the entry into service of its crucial new plane on track for next May.

The 787 is Boeing’s first all-new plane in a decade and has been a runaway sales success even before its first flight, but the company has been battling production problems to keep the programme on schedule.

“We have no intention of being late into service,” said Mike Bair, the head of the 787 programme, at a presentation ahead of the aircraft’s official roll-out on July 8, though he conceded Boeing has a contingency plan if there are problems in the test programme.

The company is mindful of the financial and reputational damage suffered by Airbus following production problems with its A380 aircraft, which will be delivered two years late to its first customers later this year.

Boeing aims to start flying the test aircraft in late August or early September, and all six will be delivered to launch customers. All Nippon Airways, the launch customer with 50 787s on order, will actually receive the seventh aircraft off the production line, while three of the six test aircraft are destined for Chinese airlines ahead of the Beijing summer Olympics in Augsut.

The 787 has so far received 642 orders, and is effectively sold out to new customers until 2015. Mr Bair said Boeing continues to put off a decision on raising production rates to meet the demand.

It currently aims to raise production to around 100 a year, assembling aircraft at its plant near Seattle in just three days. The initial planes have taken several months to put together, but Mr Bair said this could be cut to six days by the time it has manufactured 100, and will continue to fall after that.

The first aircraft presented on July 8 will still have 1,000 temporary fastener bolts holding it together, reflecting a shortage of the titanium parts which Mr Bair said would take up to nine months to resolve, though it will not delay the schedule.

Boeing has also taken some work back from suppliers and sent engineers to help its partners in the 787 programme.

Mr Bair said the test programme for the 787 had been “compressed” to eight months from the 11 months used to evaluate the Boeing 777 aircraft in the early 1990s.