Boeing Reschedules Initial 787 Dreamliner Deliveries and First Flight

The Boeing Company http://www.boeing.com/news/releases/index.html
Boeing Revises 787 First Flight and Delivery Plans; Adds Schedule
Margin to Reduce Risk of Further Delays

* First flight moved into fourth-quarter 2008; deliveries to
begin third-quarter 2009

* Production plan now targets approximately 25 787 deliveries in
2009

* Company expresses confidence in plans; will work closely with
customers to minimize disruption

* No change to 2008 earnings guidance; strong 2009 EPS growth
still expected

EVERETT, Wash., April 09, 2008 -- Boeing [NYSE: BA] today announced a
revised plan for first flight and initial deliveries of the 787
Dreamliner that includes additional schedule margin to reduce risk of
further delays on the program.

While significant progress has been made assembling Airplane #1, first
flight is being rescheduled due to slower than expected completion of
work that traveled from supplier facilities into Boeing's final
assembly line, unanticipated rework, and the addition of margin into
the testing schedule. The new delivery schedule is based on a more
conservative production plan developed with the 787 partner team. That
schedule now targets approximately 25 deliveries in 2009.

First flight of the all-new airplane will move into the fourth quarter
of this year rather than the end of the second quarter, and first
delivery is now planned for the third quarter of 2009 instead of first
quarter.

Company officials expressed confidence in the new plan and the steps
being taken to accelerate program performance.

"Over the past few months, we have taken strong actions to confront
and overcome start-up issues on the program, and we have made solid
progress," said Boeing Commercial Airplanes President and CEO Scott
Carson. "Nevertheless, the traveled work situation and some
unanticipated rework have prevented us from hitting the milestones we
laid out in January. Our revised schedule is built upon an achievable,
high-confidence plan for getting us to our power-on and first-flight
milestones. Also, while the fundamental technologies and design of the
787 remain sound, we have inserted some additional schedule margin for
dealing with other issues we may uncover in testing prior to first
flight and in the flight test program."

The company said in January it would be conducting a comprehensive
assessment of its supply chain and production system capabilities to
determine the details of the 787's flight test program and initial
delivery profile. As a result of that assessment, the first-year
delivery plan announced today will be followed by a more gradual ramp
up to full-rate production than previously planned.

"We deeply regret the disruption and disappointment these changes will
cause for our customers, and we will work closely with each of them to
minimize the impact," said Carson. "We have taken significant action
to improve supply chain and production system performance, such as our
investment in Global Aeronautica, but based on our assessment, the
prudent course is to proceed with a more gradual ramp up to full-rate
production."

Pat Shanahan, 787 vice president and program manager, echoed Carson's
comments about the progress being made in 787 factories.

"The work that remains to be done on Airplane #1 is well defined, and
we can see our way to -- and have confidence in -- the new mil estones
we have set for it," said Shanahan. "We have addressed the major
challenges that slowed our progress while trying to complete the
primary structure -- the parts shortages, engineering changes, and
manufacturing changes -- and we are well into the systems installation
that is the precursor to putting power on the airplane for the first
time. We have also worked closely with our partners to achieve higher
levels of completion of their parts of subsequent airplanes, and we
will continue to drive improvements in the supply chain and production
system performance," he said.

For tracking program progress, Shanahan outlined a series of
milestones that will occur before June 30: 787 static and fatigue
structural test airplanes will move to their testing locations;
Airplanes #3 and #4 will enter final assembly; hardware airworthiness
qualifications will be complete; and power on will be achieved.

Shanahan also said the program has changed the timing of the
introduction of two 787 derivatives. The 787-9, a larger variant of
the airplane, will be the first derivative of the baseline 787 with
delivery planned for early 2012. The 787-3, a shorter-range model
previously slated to deliver in 2010, will now become the second
derivative of the airplane family.

While research and development costs will likely increase as a result
of the 787 schedule change, Boeing expects no change to 2008 earnings
guidance. The company continues to expect strong earnings per share
growth in 2009 and will provide complete 2009 financial guidance when
it holds its first-quarter 2008 earnings conference call later this
month. The outlook for the company's defense business and
in-production commercial airplane programs remains strong.

Boeing will hold a conference call
http://phx.corporate-ir.net/playerlink.zhtml?c=85482&s=wm&e=1814923
with Scott Carson and Pat Shanahan to discuss the 787 program today at
11:00 a.m. EDT, 8:00 a.m., PDT.

Boeing press release snipped

Personally, I think that this is the right move to make if there is a
design problem with the wing box. That is the most critical
structural area on the airplane, and an in-flight failure of the wing
box would be a complete disaster. This is the first all-composite
commercial airliner ever designed and built. It absolutely needs to
be done right.

I'm sure that the structural engineers took their best shot at the
initial design, but then realized after testing the initial units that
were produced that something was inadequate and needed to be fixed.
If engineering was easy and could be done without a degree of trial
and error, anybody with a high school diploma could do it!

On a development program like this, every group is racing to get their
stuff done on time, and at the very least ahead of the slowest group.
You never want to be the part of the effort that causes the delay,
it's not fun! It's like the old joke about hikers running from a
grizzly bear. They can't outrun the bear, but they only need to
outrun the slowest hiker...

Fortunately on the 777, we managed to pull everything together on
time. The 787 is more challenging than the 777 for a number of
reasons, and unfortunately they are behind schedule. I guarantee that
there will be a "lessons learned" document that come out after this
project that is pretty hefty.

Dean

On Wed, 9 Apr 2008 11:13:13 -0700 (PDT), wrote:

This is the first all-composite
commercial airliner ever designed and built. It absolutely needs to
be done right.


I couldn't agree more.

Thank you for sharing your insight on the issue.

http://www.newairplane.com/787/en-US...eves787PowerOn
Everett, Washington, June 20, 2008
Boeing Achieves 787 Power On

The Boeing Company has completed the Power On sequence for the
first 787 Dreamliner, marking the completion of the next major
milestone on the path to first flight later this year.

Power On is a complex series of tasks and tests that bring
electrical power into the airplane and begin to exercise the use
of the electrical systems. The 787 is a more-electric airplane
with the pneumatic, or bleed air, system being totally replaced by
electronics.

"The team has made great progress in bringing the bold innovation
of the 787 to reality," said Pat Shanahan, vice president and
general manager of the 787 program. "There is plenty of work to
be done between now and the first flight, but with every step
forward we grow more and more confident."

The power On sequence began in early June with a series of pretest
continuity checks to verify that the wiring installed in the
airplane had been connected properly. Upon completion of those
checks, the Boeing team plugged in an external power cart and
slowly began to bring full power into each segment of the system,
beginning with the flight deck displays. From that point forward,
the pilot's controls were used to direct the addition of new
systems to the power grid.

At each step of the testing, power is allowed to flow into one
additional area and gauges are used to verify that the right level
of electrical power is reached the intended area. "We are very
methodical in ensuring the integrity of the airplane's systems,"
said Shanahan. "In completing the Power On sequence, we have
verified both that the electrical power distribution system is
installed as designed and that it functions as intended."

An inside look at the Power On testing sequence will be featured
on www.boeing.com and newairplane.com beginning Monday at 5 a.m.
PDT.