Boeing has confirmed a further delay to the long overdue delivery of its first 787 Dreamliner aircraft. The manufacturer said it expects delivery of the first 787 in the third quarter of the year.
The first aircraft had been scheduled to be taken by All Nippon Airways next month – itself a long overdue date due to ongoing technical issues with the new generation aircraft.
Boeing said: “The new delivery date reflects the impact of an in-flight incident during testing last November and includes the time required to produce, install and test updated software and new electrical power distribution panels in the flight test and production airplanes.”
Vice-president and general manager of the 787 programme Scott Fancher said: “This revised timeline for first delivery accommodates the work we believe remains to be done to complete testing and certification of the 787.
“We’ve also restored some margin in the schedule to allow for any additional time that may be needed to complete certification activities.”
The 787 programme has been gradually returning individual aircraft to the flight testing. Four flight test aircraft have been subjected to “extensive ground testing” and a thorough review to ensure their readiness to return to flight after receiving interim software and hardware improvements.
“The remaining two airplanes will be returning to flight in the days ahead to bring the full flight test fleet back up to flight status,” Boeing said.
“The revised first delivery date is not expected to have a material impact on 2010 financial results,” the company added. “Financial guidance and anticipated initial 787 deliveries for 2011 will be discussed in the company’s earnings call on January 26.”
The delay with have an impact on Thomson Airways and British Airways, which both have orders for Dreamliners.