Sat, Oct 27, 2007
May Impact 777F Flight Testing, 747-8 Development
American planemaker Boeing flatly denies the six-month delay in
flight testing and deliveries of its new 787 Dreamliner will impact
other aircraft now under development... but others aren't so
sure.
According to the Leeham Company consulting group, customers for
the upcoming 777 Freighter and 747-8 are growing concerned the
planes they're waiting for will also be delayed, as engineers for
both programs are pulled to assist with bringing the Dreamliner
back on schedule. 747-8 customers are also watching delays in the
Dreamliner's first flight carefully, as the two planes share the
same GEnx turbofan.
The 777 Freighter is scheduled for delivery in Q3 2008; first
flights were scheduled to begin after the first Dreamliners started
certification testing. The freighter variant of the 747-8 is
scheduled for delivery in September 2009, with passenger planes
soon following.
When asked to confirm or deny the reports, Boeing told
Leeham.net both programs remain on schedule.
"With respect to your request for comment about possible impact
to or delay of the 777 Freighter and 747-8 programs due to the
schedule slide for the 787 program, we have the following
responses," Boeing replied. "Despite the 787 schedule change, we
remain on track for our first delivery of the 777 Freighter in the
fourth quarter of 2008; Likewise, the 747-8 Freighter remains on
schedule to deliver in late 2009."
An unidentified 747-8F customer told the consulting group
they're uneasy.
"Whether I’m justifiably concerned, I don’t know
yet," the customer says, noting all three programs share many of
the same resources. "We’re still talking about not
insignificant work on systems and everything that I’ve heard
is this is still a large issue."
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