But Potential Problems Lie Ahead

From recent news reports, you might think Boeing can do no wrong as Airbus continues to stumble. But that's not necessarily the case. In fact, many of the teething problems that have plagued the A380 may still await Boeing's upcoming 787 Dreamliner, as the company prepares to build its first test aircraft.

Until now, the Dreamliner has existed primarily the minds and computers of engineers assigned to the project... and turning those images into reality may yet prove difficult.

"Every time we do a new airplane we essentially bet the company to some extent," said Scott Carson, head of Boeing's commercial airplane division, to the Washington Post. "When you are placing that kind of bet, you want to get it right. You have to get right."

No other commercial airliner has been built the way Boeing plans to produce the 787 -- at least, not on the same scope. Instead of building the plane in-house, for example, Boeing is allowing outside contractors -- many of them overseas -- to design and build 70 percent of the aircraft.

The wings will come from Japan, for example, while composite fuselage barrel segments will be flown over from Italy. A Chinese company is building rudders for the plane; France is producing the 787's landing gear. The components will be assembled at Boeing's Everett, WA facility.

That's an impressive sign of the global nature of today's economy... but that also leaves a lot of room for potential problems. Airbus took a similar tack when building the mammoth A380 superjumbo, for example, and that plane is now suffering its third production-related delay.

"This program is probably the most complicated thing that [Boeing] commercial airplanes has ever done," said 787 program manager Mike Bair. "From a commercial airplane structure point of view, this is going from cloth and wood to aluminum."

Boeing has approximately 430 orders for the 787... four times the number Airbus can claim for its A350XWB. Airbus redesigned its aircraft this year to present a stronger competitor to the 787.

Already, Boeing has had to bring some outsourced assembly procedures in-house for the prototype, as the company assigned to build those components wasn't meeting Boeing's standards. The manufacturer has also invested an additional $500 million in bringing the plane's target weight down.

Those problems are expected to be worked out in time for production... but what lies ahead for what is arguably Boeing's most important project to date remains uncertain.

"There are literally... a million things that can go wrong in the process that could throw them off track," said analyst Scott Hamilton.

FMI: www.boeing.com