Key customer predicts another 787 delay

Published 11:02 pm Wednesday, March 19, 2008

EVERETT — The Dreamliner’s biggest customer told investors Tuesday that his leasing company doesn’t expect delivery of the first 787 until late 2009, about six months later than the Boeing Co. has announced.

That would make the 787 roughly 16 months late.

The latest hiccup with Boeing’s fast-selling Dreamliner comes from design changes to the plane’s wing box, Steven Udvar-Hazy, chairman of International Lease Finance Corp., told investors at a JP Morgan conference Tuesday.

Udvar-Hazy said he expects the first 787 flight won’t occur until fall and that the first delivery will be postponed until around September 2009. The leasing company has 74 Dreamliners on order with Boeing.

Udvar-Hazy said he believes structural design changes to the 787’s center wing box, which will then require retrofits of the first several planes produced, are behind the potential delay. The center wing box is a key piece that connects the jetliner’s wing to the fuselage and holds fuel.

Boeing spokeswoman Yvonne Leach did not directly respond to Udvar-Hazy’s comments about the center wing box redesign, saying only that “it is normal during the development of a new airplane to discover the need for design enhancements,” and that design changes are not the only item affecting a possible change in schedule.

“While we respect Hazy and he is a valued customer, he was sharing what is his opinion,” Leach said Wednesday in an e-mail.

Boeing’s stock dropped more than $3 in late trading, closing down 4 percent at $73.45.

Boeing initially pushed back deliveries of its 787 last fall, citing parts shortages and assembly problems. In its latest delay announcement, in January, Boeing said it aimed to have the Dreamliner in the air by the end of June and to deliver the first jet in early 2009. Beyond the first delivery, Boeing didn’t offer a new schedule, saying it would provide an update at the end of the quarter.

Earlier this month, Goldman Sachs analyst Richard Safran warned in a note to investors that the 787 could see another six-month setback. He cut his expectations for 787 deliveries in 2009 from 80 planes to 50. Boeing initially planned to deliver 112 Dreamliner jets in 2009.

Boeing announced a bit of good news on its 787 program Wednesday. One of its global partners for the 787, Italy’s Alenia Aeronautica, said it successfully completed the “ultimate load testing” of the Dreamliner horizontal stabilizer. The test is an important step in Boeing’s 787 certification efforts.

During the test, the stabilizer is subjected to the aerodynamic loads that could be experienced by the aircraft during flight in the most severe circumstances. Over the past three months, static tests in the laboratory at Pomigliano, Italy, have successfully bent the 787 stabilizer up, down and asymmetrically at maximum load, simulating three critical design conditions for the stabilizer.

Boeing’s 787 jet is made mostly of carbon fiber composite material — a lightweight, sturdy material that Boeing expects to help improve fuel efficiency on its Dreamliner. Suppliers such as Alenia ship major sections of the Dreamliner to Everett for final assembly.

“The successful testing of the horizontal stabilizer proves the capability of the composite material, design and construction,” said Mark Jenks, Boeing’s vice president of development for the 787 program, in a prepared statement.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

Reporter Michelle Dunlop: 425-339-3454 or mdunlop@heraldnet.com.