Boeing has yet again put back its delivery schedule for its long-awaited 787 programme, blaming supplier work travel issues and what it refers to as ”unanticipated rework.”
The new delay now means that the first 787 flight will take place in the fourth quarter of this year, rather than the end of June, while first delivery is slated for the third quarter of next year rather than the previously scheduled timetable of 2009 first quarter.
Such delays echo the myriad problems that beset arch-rival Airbus” A380 programme as it progressively retarded delivery of its ultra-large aircraft and today”s (9 April) news from Seattle has provoked a strong airline reaction including what compensation will be paid.
Launch customer ANA was due to take delivery of the first two of its 50 787s in May, and a spokesperson said today: ”We are extremely disappointed. This is the third delay in the delivery of the first aircraft, and we still have no details about the full delivery schedule.”
A British Airways (BA) spokesman told ABTN: ”We are talking to Boeing about compensation,” although he declined to be drawn as to its nature or size. ”We are discussing lots of options with them.”
BA had 24 Dreamliners on order for a service entry date of August 2010, broken down into 7 787-8 and 16 787-9 aircraft, but the new delay will severely impact delivery.
”We are one of many airlines affected by this delay [and] we understand the difficulties facing Boeing at the moment ” we are talking to them about the implications of this," said the BA spokesman.
The new delivery slip now includes what Boeing says is margin ”for dealing with other issues we may uncover in testing prior to first flight and in the test program” and the manufacturer is bracing itself for extra research and development costs ” as well as potential compensation.
”We deeply regret the disruption and disappointment these changes will cause for our customers,” said Boeing commercial airplanes president and CEO Scott Carson.”