Global Airport News

Boeing is again examining its 787 delivery schedule as it seeks to address the mountain of post-certification rework required to turn partially completed airframes into deliverable passenger aircraft.

Today, Boeing is aiming to hand over its first 787 to Japan's All Nippon Airways in February, just shy of three years since the original May 2008 delivery, though a verdict on the necessary rework is expected in the coming weeks and could impact initial deliveries anywhere from weeks to several months depending on the customer.

"Flight testing is a dynamic process and we constantly review and manage risks and opportunities to the program schedule. Our plan remains first delivery of the Boeing 787 mid-first-quarter 2011," says the airframer.

One program engineer says that in order to meet the mid-February delivery target for ANA all of the design changes for Airplane Seven (JA801A), the first production 787, had to be released by engineering by the close of October, however the source adds "there are some design changes that are not released yet but must be implemented to have the airplane certified" ahead of first delivery.

Program and industry sources suggested Airplane Seven's delivery could be made to ANA on time in February, but how long after it entered revenue service pending additional changes, and how long after that more deliveries followed, remained an open question.

Boeing has remained reluctant to provide guidance on how many 787s it expects to hand over to carriers in 2011, though Jim McNerney, the company's CEO, identified post certification rework a chief priority for the program.

"We are intensely focused on managing the change incorporation process on airplanes already built or in flow," McNerney said in the company's third quarter earnings, which maintained the February first delivery target. "The early delivery schedule is comprised of a mix of airplanes coming off the production line and airplanes completing the change incorporation process."