No Surprise -- Plane Won't Fly Before Q2 2009
In a rather subdued release Thursday, Boeing timidly announced
an updated schedule for its 787 Dreamliner program that moves the
commercial jet's first flight into the second quarter of 2009 and
first delivery into the first quarter of 2010.
The announcement
confirmed reports that first surfaced last
week, stating Boeing would soon announce a fourth
major delay to the 787 program. Boeing says the new schedule
"reflects the impact of disruption caused by the recent Machinists'
strike along with the requirement to replace certain fasteners in
early production airplanes."
"Our industry team has made progress with structural testing,
systems hardware qualification, and production, but we must adjust
our schedule for these two unexpected disruptions," said Boeing
Commercial Airplanes President and CEO Scott Carson.
Prior to the IAM strike -- which, Boeing points out, halted much
of the company's commercial airplane work from early September into
November -- the composite-bodied 787 was to make its first flight
late in the fourth quarter of 2008. First delivery was slated for
the third quarter of 2009.
"We're laser focused on what needs to be done to prepare for
first flight," said Pat Shanahan, 787 program vice president. "We
will overcome this set of circumstances as we have others in the
past, and we understand clearly what needs to be done moving
forward."
Included in the preparations for first flight, Shanahan said,
are finalizing and incorporating remaining engineering changes and
completing systems testing, qualifications and certification.
Boeing says it is evaluating the specific impact of this delay
on customer delivery dates and will provide customers with updated
schedules once completed. The company is also determining any
financial impact from this schedule change and will incorporate
that into updated financial and overall airplane delivery guidance
that will be released at a later date.
Apart from the noticeably contrite tone of Boeing's
announcement, another aspect of the release struck us as
interesting: the typical "Forward-Looking Statement" boilerplate --
usually written in small type at the end of nearly all
announcements involving a future development program -- was
highlighted and bolded on Boeing's announcement... perhaps to
remind customers, critics, pundits and media alike that
"Forward-Looking Information Is Subject to Risk and
Uncertainty."
Given that we're discussing the subject of first
flights at the time Boeing originally -- and boldly --
said the first 787 would be delivered to All Nippon
Airways ... that's probably a statement
Boeing should take to heart, as well.