Boeing pushes back first flight of next 787

Published 4:41 pm Friday, February 26, 2010

The Boeing Co. has shifted the first flight of its next 787 Dreamliner to March from February, the company said Friday.

The 787, which is the third Dreamliner produced, is fitted with a partial interior, including passenger seats and overhead storage bins. Boeing’s Jim McNerney had said earlier this month that both the third and fourth 787s would fly before March 1.

Boeing did put the fourth Dreamliner in the air on Wednesday.

But, on Friday, 787 spokeswoman Lori Gunter confirmed that the third 787 won’t fly until next month.

“We’ve got some open work to complete on the airplane and have decided to accelerate the installation of some flight test equipment that we had originally planned to install after first flight,” Gunter wrote in an e-mail. “As a result, we’re taking some extra time to get in the air but we will be able to fly more often sooner in its flight test schedule, which will be an overall benefit to the program because we will improve our flight test efficiency.”

Gunter said the shift is a “typical adjustment” in a flight test program and called it a “smart move overall.”

Boeing plans to have all six flight test 787s in the air by the end of the second quarter. The company intends to deliver the first Dreamliner to Japan’s All Nippon Airways later this year, more than two years late.