Boeing 787 First Flight Delayed
In the wake of the IAM strike and the more recent discovery on non conforming fasteners found on the first few 787’s in Everett, Boeing today confirmed that the first flight would not now take place until 2009.
“Given the duration of the IAM work stoppage, first flight of the 787 Dreamliner will not be accomplished in the fourth quarter of 2008. The timeframe for first flight has not been established and will be based on the strike recovery assessment. The program is working to determine a new program schedule that will be announced when it is finalized,” said 787 spokeswoman Yvonne Leach.
“We’ve always said the strike was day-for-day plus disruption…the strike was 58 days — almost two months — and we have about that many days remaining in the year.”
She added that it is “premature to comment” on when a new revised schedule would be in place.
The effects of the strike was seen as the key catalyst behind the decision to delay first flight, meaning that deliveries will likely commence in 2010.
“Although the admission of further 787 delays is hardly welcome, it has already been reflected in our Boeing estimates, and we think the stock continues to trade beneath its fair value, given that half the business is defense. We reiterate our Outperform rating and US$63 price target,” said analyst Robert Stallard.
Most Wall Street analysts agree now that deliveries in early 2010 seems the most likely target given this new slip in the schedule.
During the Farnborough Air Show, 787 VP/General Manager Patrick Shanahan highlighted his concerns that the programme was using margins that he didn’t want to eat into.
Responding to earlier reports of the non conforming fasteners installed on the first five test 787’s (including the static test 787) in Everett, Boeing’s Mary Hanson added:
“We first discovered this a couple of weeks ago during a regular inspection of the static airframe. We then began inspecting all the 787s in Everett and alerted our structural partners to check their units in production. The number of non-conformances vary in number by airplane but each of the airplanes in Everett is involved. The location of these non-conforming fasteners is not isolated to any particular area of the airplanes. “
It is understood that subsequent 787’s in the production stream are also affected.
15 comments November 4th, 2008
