NEW YORK – Boeing is expected to announce further delays to its Dreamliner 787 production schedule during a global media webcast tomorrow.
Boeing Commercial Airplanes president and CEO, Scott Carson and vice president/general manager, 787 Program, Pat Shanahan will discuss progress to date on the new commercial airplane.
Overnight reports from the United States indicate that Boeing will announce a further six- to nine-month delay for the troubled programme.
Such a setback would be the third major change to the original schedule and put first delivery of the lightweight, fuel-efficient aircraft as much as 18 months behind the original target.
Problems with a shortage of parts, redesigned components and a widespread supplier base have dogged Boeing since it started major assembly on the first 787 last May.
The mid-sized, wide body plane — which has not yet left the ground for tests — was originally scheduled for first delivery next month.
Wall Street analysts and industry experts now expect first delivery, to Japan’s All Nippon Airways, as late as September 2009.
Boeing is still officially sticking to its target of delivering 109 787s by the end of 2009. Given the delays, analysts now expect only 10 to 45 of the planes to be delivered in that time.
The expected delay would come on top of two previous major setbacks announced in October and January, which have already put the project nine months behind schedule.
