Boeing’s big challenge: 10 787s a month

Published 12:15 am Wednesday, December 16, 2009

The moment took nearly 2½ years longer to reach than the Boeing Co. had planned.

But the aerospace giant doesn’t have long to savor the first flight of the its 787 Dreamliner. There’s too much work to do.

Boeing’s goal for its carbon fiber composite airplane lies not in the first flight, nor even with the first 787 delivery to Japan’s All Nippon Airways in late 2010.

Ultimately, Boeing wants to ramp up production of its Dreamliner, which is made in sections by the company’s global partners.

Many obstacles stand between Boeing and its ultimate plan of producing 10 787s monthly. The first of those is the flight test program, which began with the Dreamliner’s first flight.

While getting the 787 in the air is an achievement, investors will be waiting for Boeing’s projections for 2010 and beyond to determine whether the 787’s early flights are successful. Boeing has held off on giving estimates for 2010 performance until seeing the 787 fly. If Boeing calls for increased funding for research and development for the 787, that could indicate the jet didn’t perform as well as expected.

Although Boeing has added a buffer to its original flight test schedule, the 787’s flight program remains fast-paced. The company, which will use six Dreamliner jets for flight testing, needs to run a round-the-clock program to meet its deadline. As soon as airplanes have finished flying for the day, Boeing ground crews will perform maintenance and then prepare the planes for the next day’s tests.

Boeing employs about 1,000 people — 600 engineers, 400 mechanics — in its flight test operations group, said Barbara Cosgrove, vice president of flight test operations, at a media briefing in April. And Boeing will use dozens of test pilots in its commercial airplanes division as needed to keep the program going.

Boeing engineers already have been “testing” the 787’s responses to various flight scenarios through simulation and analysis.

“We have lots and lots of experience in predicting how the aircraft will respond,” Cosgrove said.

Boeing will need to put its flight-test jets through extremes, including very high and low temperatures, strong crosswinds and engine failures. The rigorous testing will help demonstrate that the 787 responds the way Boeing has said it would and is safe for operation.

The company has been working with the Federal Aviation Administration since 2003 on ways to show that its new Dreamliner meets federal requirements, 787 chief engineer Mike Delaney said in April. The company already has handed over more than 60 percent of the documentation required to the FAA.

After the FAA signs off on the 787, Boeing will deliver the first of 840 Dreamliners on order to All Nippon Airways in the fourth quarter of 2010. Even then, though, Boeing will still be working to implement its production schedule.

In October, Boeing announced it would locate a second 787 final assembly line in Charleston, S.C. This month, Boeing officials confirmed that the company also plans to duplicate in South Carolina the 787 assemblies produced in Everett. The company aims to have the South Carolina site open in mid-2011, reaching 10 jets per month — 3 in Charleston, 7 in Everett — by 2013.

It’s not just the final assembly sites in Everett and Charleston that will need to ramp up. Boeing relies on partners around the world to supply large assemblies of the Dreamliner. Some partners struggled to produce quality parts on time. Others have shouldered unexpected financial burdens caused by 787 delays.

With first flight, Boeing has lifted, at least temporarily, some of the intense scrutiny of the 787. But the clock already is clicking off the minutes until the jet’s next major milestone.