Boeing reaffirms latest schedule for 787 flight test, deliveries

CHICAGO (AP) - Boeing Co. said Tuesday that its schedule for the 787 Dreamliner remains on track and it does not currently envision further delays in the much-ballyhooed airplane.

Officials of the aerospace company reaffirmed the latest schedule in a conference call updating the 787 program's status, two months after it pushed back flight testing and initial deliveries of the aircraft by six months.

Many industry observers ultimately anticipate additional delays, which are common with new airplanes.

Scott Carson, head of Boeing's Seattle-based commercial airplane manufacturing division, acknowledged the company still is "ironing out significant supply-chain wrinkles" but said there are no revisions to the latest schedule.

"The plan we announced in October for the 787 is unchanged: to fly the first airplane around the end of the first quarter of 2008 and begin deliveries in late November or December timeframe, and to deliver 109 airplanes in 2009," Carson said. "That is our team's commitment, and we intend to perform to that commitment."

The first flight test had been scheduled for early fall.

The 787, Boeing's first newly designed jet since airlines started flying the 777 in 1995, will be the world's first large commercial airplane made mostly of carbon-fiber composites, which are lighter, more durable and less prone to corrosion than more traditional aluminum. Boeing says it will be cheaper to maintain and offer better fuel efficiency and more passenger comforts than comparable planes flying today.

But the unprecedented plan to assemble a jet from components manufactured largely by other companies ran into early snags when the outsourcing led to a variety of problems involving contractors in numerous countries. It also was dogged by shortages of fasteners and other small parts that hold large sections of the plane together.

Pat Shanahan, who replaced Mike Bair as vice president and general manager of the Everett, Wash.-based 787 program in October as a result of the production problems, said Boeing is "making progress against our plans." He said parts shortages are declining and availability of fasteners has improved, enabling installation work to accelerate.