United delays plans for 787

EVERETT — Uncertainty over delivery of its first 787s prompted United Airlines on Monday to postpone service to New Zealand that will feature the new jet.

The launch of new flights from Houston, Texas, to Auckland, New Zealand, planned to start November 2011, were pushed into 2012 “because of the uncertainty of Boeing’s new delivery date,” said Julie King, spokeswoman for the Chicago-based carrier.

The announcement from United, which became the world’s largest airline Oct. 1 with its merger with Continental, came on a day when the Boeing Co. acknowledged that it was in the middle of a three-week delay of final assembly of the 787 to give its suppliers more time.

“We wanted to give our partners more time to finish what they’re working on currently,” Boeing spokesman Scott Lefeber said.

He said the 16-day production hold in the final body-join area began last month. The 16 days relates to five-day work weeks, so the hold is just over three weeks long.

The delay is not related to the Nov. 9 mid-air fire in a 787 test jet, Lefeber said. The plane landed safely in Laredo, Texas, and there were no injuries. But the 787 flight test program has been put on hold.

The fire and its effect on the potential redesign of 787 hardware and software has raised speculation that delivery of the 787 to its first customers could be delayed by several months to as long as a year. Delivery had been set for early next year.

Lefeber said that a revised production schedule should be available in the next few weeks.

He said that the company still wants suppliers to continue producing 787 parts. But Spirit AeroSystems announced last week that it was temporarily shifting 787 workers to produce 737 parts. Its workers in Wichita, Kan., make the nose section for the 787.

United was slated to take delivery of eight 787s between August of next year and September 2012, according to Ascend Worldwide Ltd., a market research firm specializing in aerospace and space data.

The 787 is set to play a big role in expansion plans at United, which has 50 787-8s on order. United had planned to fly it from Houston to Lagos, Nigeria, next November under the Continental banner, but will instead use 777s, King said.

She would not say if the company will seek any compensation from Boeing for the delays. Continental was the U.S. launch customer for the 787 and was supposed to receive its first Dreamliner in March 2009.

Delivery of the 787 is now three years late.

Boeing has assembled 26 787s so far, many that still need some additional work because of supplier issues or other problems. It will have to retest and replace every component that it redesigns because of the electrical fire.

Boeing shares closed at $66.59 a share Monday, up five cents. The company’s stock price has climbed about 25 percent during the past year.

Herald news services contributed to this story.