EVERETT – The Boeing Co. remains on schedule to fly its 787 jet by the end of March and deliver the first Dreamliner in late 2008.
During their quarterly update call with analysts and media, Boeing officials reconfirmed on Tuesday that they plan to hand over 109 Dreamliner jets by the end of 2009. That goal remains in line with the revised timeframe Boeing laid out when it announced a six-month delay to the 787 in October.
The new leader of the Dreamliner program, Pat Shanahan, said his team has targeted the end of January to turn the power on the first 787.
“Getting power on is a significant milestone for us,” Shanahan said.
While Boeing and its global partners strive toward that milestone, they also need to execute the next key objective: meeting Boeing’s aggressive production ramp up plan. While Boeing puts its new, fuel-efficient Dreamliner through flight certification, the company intends to continue building 787 jets in order to turn out 109 Dreamliners by the end of 2009. Many analysts have been skeptical of Boeing’s ability to meet this goal.
To do so, Shanahan and Boeing have to address the problems that led to the initial delay. One of the major issues Boeing faced with the first 787 was the amount of incomplete work shipped from Boeing’s partners. The company slowed down deliveries of subsequent major structures from its suppliers in October in order to give those partners additional time to complete their pieces.
Shanahan said he has implemented several changes to the 787 program – some of which have reduced the amount of incomplete or traveled work coming from suppliers.
“We are now managing traveled work much more efficiently,” Shanahan said.
Shanahan already has traveled to Italy and South Carolina to meet with key 787 suppliers. He soon will travel to Kansas and Japan to see face-to-face the remaining Dreamliner partners. Shanahan said he coordinates regularly with those major partners on progress in their factories.
The new vice president of the Dreamliner program also meets daily with 787 leaders in Boeing’s Everett factory, where the Dreamliner goes through final assembly.
Scott Carson, president of Boeing Commercial Airplanes, believes the company understands the risks that still lie ahead with the 787 program.
“We think we have a better grasp on what those challenges are,” Carson said.
Back in early summer, he said, Boeing didn’t understand the extent of incomplete work that was shipped from suppliers. Additionally, Carson said, Boeing thought it had the tools and processes in place in Everett to handle traveled work from suppliers. Shanahan, he said, has helped iron out those supply chain issues.
The six-month delay in Boeing’s 787 has impacted both some Dreamliner customers and suppliers. Carson and Shanahan said the company is still negotiating with some suppliers, like Spirit in Wichita, Kan., on the financial ramifications of that delay.
The lightweight, mostly composite material Dreamliner continues to do well in the marketplace, winning 314 orders so far in 2007 – a new single-year sales record, Carson said. The 787 has received 762 firm orders from 52 customers over its lifetime.
Boeing’s stock traded at around $92.04 Tuesday morning, down about 60 cents for the day.
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