EVERETT — After months of keeping the media at bay, the Boeing Co. welcomed the world into its 787 factory on Monday in an effort to assure airline customers and investors that its Dreamliner finally is on track.
Monday marked the first time since last July’s 787 rollout that Boeing had allowed journalists a look at its 787 production line. The jet is about 15 months behind schedule.
“This is a program where about every half-hour someone runs into my office and throws a grenade,” said Pat Shanahan.
It has been up to Shanahan to lessen the impact of those grenades since he stepped in as the vice president of the 787 Dreamliner program last October.
Boeing has struggled to fix or complete work on major parts sent by its global suppliers. The company has announced three major delays and pushed back the delivery of its first Dreamliner to the third quarter of 2009.
With the latest delivery schedule, Boeing built in buffer time to “accommodate the things we don’t know,” Shanahan said.
That’s partly why Wall Street responded positively both the day of the most recent delay announcement and on Monday when Boeing opened the 787’s factory doors to the media. Boeing’s stock rose $1.90 to close Monday at $87.07.
“We’re making progress,” Shanahan said.
The jet maker’s third 787 demonstrates some of that progress.
With the third 787, Boeing has stabilized work on the production line. Workers will no longer follow the 787 to the next assembly position in order to complete unfinished work from suppliers. Machinists and engineers who work at the first production station will remain at that station after the third 787 moves into position two.
That means workers can beginning honing their assembly skills — a key step as Boeing looks to ramp up production in coming months and years.
At the first station, Boeing simultaneously joins the wings and the forward, aft and mid body sections. Inside the jet, black and orange wiring snakes through the front of the aircraft. The white walls are a sign that suppliers pre-installed wiring — a step they missed completely on the first 787.
The major assemblies for the third 787 arrived about 75 percent more complete than the ones for the first 787, Shanahan said.
Even the scaffolding on the floor around airplane three soon will disappear. Boeing brought it in for employees to finish up incomplete work on the jet’s wings. Shanahan anticipates the wings for airplane four could arrive complete. But he’s willing to settle for even 100 minor incomplete tasks, such as installing a few fasteners.
As Boeing works to regain the confidence of its customers, the company has outlined several milestones on the way to first delivery next year. The first major one to look for comes in June, when Boeing plans to turn the power on in the first 787.
“We gradually activate the plane,” Shanahan said.
Workers prepare different sections of the plane for power. The wings have been completed and both the forward and rear fuselage sections have nearly been completed, Shanahan said. The mid-body section, however, won’t be prepared until June.
“I don’t expect any surprises,” he said.
After Boeing turns the power on the first aircraft, it will have a better understanding of how functional the plane’s systems are, Shanahan said.
By the end of the year, Boeing intends to check another milestone off its list, finishing up with the first flight of the 787. Shanahan confirmed on Monday that the company still intends to put the original Dreamliner in the air. The first flight will kick off the jet’s flight-test program.
During the eight months of flight testing, Boeing will put six 787s in the air. Each aircraft will be used to demonstrate different capabilities, such as handling, systems or engine performance.
Boeing has been working with the Federal Aviation Administration for the past four years on the agency’s requirements for giving the 787 its OK. About 80 percent of the tests needed to prove the 787’s airworthiness can be done without a full aircraft.
“It’s really a matter of getting the airplane out and flying it now,” Shanahan said.
The company continues work on its two test aircraft — planes that will not be delivered to customers. Due to the 787’s added composite material and its new construction methods, Boeing will conduct more tests on the Dreamliner than it did for recent commercial jets such as the 777 or 767, said Randall Harley, vice president of engineering and technology on the 787.
At the end of April, Boeing moved one of the aircraft into test position at a location inside the 747 line. There, workers will need to conduct tests to prove the strength of the 787. Three such tests will need to occur before Boeing can put the first 787 in the air, Harley said.
As soon as the 787-8 receives its certification from the FAA, engineers will begin working on the first derivative, the 787-9. Shanahan expects to nail down the final design for the 787-9 in a year.
And Boeing continues to evaluate a 787-10 model, he said.
The company already is evaluating ways to speed up production. Boeing hopes to reach a rate of 10 aircraft a month by 2012. That depends largely on the performance of its suppliers.
Dreamliner partners will get their first major test after the first six flight planes have been built. The company expects that issues will pop up during the flight-test program. Boeing’s partners will need to incorporate engineering changes as the suppliers continue to produce parts.
“Right when they get stabilized, we’ll dump a bunch of changes on them,” Shanahan said.
Boeing already has identified some engineering changes — modifications to the wingbox — that will be incorporated into planes not involved with the flight-test program.
Changes don’t create as much fuss as they used to on the 787 production line in Everett, Shanahan said. Employees on the 787 line are “energized.”
“It’s just really fun to be here,” he said. “It wasn’t really fun to be here six months ago.”
Reporter Michelle Dunlop: 425-339-3454 or mdunlop@heraldnet.com.
Upcoming 787 milestones
June 2008: Power turned on in the first 787.
Summer 2008: First interior installation.
Fourth quarter 2008: First flight.
Third quarter 2009: First 787-8 delivery.
End 2009: 25 787s delivered.
Early 2012: First 787-9 delivery.
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