Category: FlightBlogger

Wall Street Journal says:

Boeing Co. is considering pushing back the first deliveries of its flagship
787 Dreamliner by at least six more months to account for the recent
strike by union machinists, as well as other snags in getting the
troubled jetliner airborne.

According to people familiar with the situation, Boeing officials
are expected to announce later this month that the first deliveries of
the fuel-efficient jet might not occur until as late as summer 2010,
more than two years after the jet was originally scheduled to enter
service.

In recent days, these people said, Boeing officials have been
meeting with suppliers and partners on the jet program in an effort to
get their arms around a number of challenges that have sprung up in
part because of the volume of work that Boeing outsourced on the
program.

Boeing says in response:

We are currently conducting an assessment of the 787 program schedule. We will communicate it when it is complete. We do not have the exact timing yet on when that communication will occur.

The Journal has a knack for serving as a ‘leading indicator’ to an official BCA announcement..

My biggest take away on the Airbus dossier is that the European company sees the Boeing 787-9 as the killer app. Rarely, has the first generation iteration of a Boeing jetliner been delivered in great volume.

The 727-100, 737-100, 747-100, 767-200 and 777-200 did not define their respective programs. With the exception of the 757-200, first generation airliners aren’t largely produced.

Take the 767-300ER for example. That aircraft accounts for more than
half of the 950+ 767 deliveries during the production run. The 767-200ER
runs a distant second with 121 deliveries. The -300ER entered service
in 1988, six years after the first 767-200 delivery.

Boeing sold the 787-8 as 2nd/3rd generation mature technology (a la 777-300ER) in a 1st generation package, which explains its sales success. Full technological maturity by EIS, it’s a very attractive offer. The reality is that 1st generation technology is still 1st generation and Boeing has already said that the 787-9 will be the biggest recipient of Boeing’s 787 lessons learnt.

With Boeing, Airbus, Embraer and Bombardier all forecasting an up-gauge in the overall size of aircraft, the 787-9 with more seats, will likely be the beneficiary of this trend for Boeing. The 900 orders booked currently split largely for the 787-8, though customers contractually have the option to switch variants.

I’m willing to bet that the 787 orderbook balance will dash to the nine.

Late last night on the east coast the membership of SPEEA approved a new four-year contract by a vote of 69%. The ratification of the new contract closes a tumultuous chapter that has dominated the second half of 2008 for Boeing. The very recent memory of the pain incurred by Boeing, the IAM and their membership undoubtedly informed the negotiations with SPEEA. Both sides involved in negotiations used the IAM experience to their respective advantages to garner a amicable contract that serves both the needs of management and the engineer.

It’s no secret that both sides postured and positioned for an advantage in the public eye, often butting heads rhetorically, but at the end of the day a solution was found. Let’s hope the positive outcome serves as a future model and a step forward in labor/management relations for Boeing and its Unions.

SPEEA Votes
Tonight in Seattle, the votes of Boeing’s Engineers Union will be tallied. The union will ratify or reject the new four-year contract offered to the 20,500 strong membership. The Union leadership has recommended ratification, though passage depends on a simple majority vote of the membership. Union members have two votes, the first of which is ratification of the contract (yes or no) and authorization for a strike (yes or no). We could know the result as early as 11pm ET/8pm PT tonight.

Economy Stalls CSeries
With the economy doing a nauseating series of high G maneuvers, China
is significantly cutting back capacity on its state-owned airlines
(redundant?). This cut in capacity will inevitably delay a CSeries
order, putting Bombardier’s fledgling 130 seater in a precarious spot without a firm launch customer, especially after the Summer’s soft commitment from Lufthansa.

“We had previously anticipated that a Chinese customer would place a
significant order for the CSeries aircraft,” Mr. Poirier said in a note
to clients Thursday. “However, with the Chinese carriers’ poor
passenger traffic and profitability figures, and the announcement by
the CAAC, we believe an order from a Chinese customer will not be
placed in the short to medium term.”

Delta’s Dreamliners Become Worldliners
Open delivery slots on 787 and the purchase of a more expensive 777-200LRs is just fine with Boeing, but the question should be asked: is this part of a compensation package for a 787 delay to Northwest? Also, what role has the 787 weight gain played in influencing the missions that 787 can now perform?

Dubai-London on A380
With Emirates now the proud operator of 3 Airbus A380 aircraft, the airline kicked off direct Dubai-London service today. London is now the only European city with A380 service (period) and now with two airlines. Sydney is served by QANTAS and Singapore.

Something lighter:

Report: Planes Just As Afraid Of John Madden
WASHINGTON–The Federal Aviation Administration stated Wednesday that,
according to all available evidence, airplanes are just as afraid of
carrying sportscaster John Madden as he is of traveling on them.
“Airliners have a not unreasonable fear that, were John Madden to board
them, it would increase their chances of crashing,” said FAA
administrator Robert A. Sturgell, reading from the report. “While
looking at John Madden, planes often express a sense of inadequacy and
a heightened fear of losing control. Our studies have not found,
however, that planes have any more reason to be afraid of John Madden
than they do of any other grossly overweight celebrity.” To help reduce
planes’ fears, Boeing has enrolled their fleet of commercial airliners
in an education program about the realities of John Madden, which will
explain exactly how he works, the meaning of the various sounds he
generates, and why he may vibrate or gurgle when under way.

See Kieran Daly for more.

In other news…
I may or may not be turning 25 on Saturday.

The second episode of 21st Century Jet delves into the intricacies of the global supply chain built for the 777. In comparison to the structure of the 787 supply chain, it’s actually quite amazing just how straightforward it was. It also illustrates the types of challenges that can go from localized to a threat to the overall program schedule. Also discussed is the cultural relationship between the Japanese and Americans, which grew even stronger for the development of the 787. At one point in the video even asks about the future of the Japanese aircraft industry and how long it would be until they build an aircraft domestically. We see that manifested today in the MRJ.

Episode II: The Sum of Its Parts

Whether it’s friends, family or things that fly, taking a moment to reflect is just good for the soul. No matter where you are in the world today (and probably everyday) is a good day to say thanks.

I’m thankful for all of you and your continued support. It truly means the world to me. All the best to you and your families.

That’s my favorite dish over there. Eat up everyone!

Monday afternoon in Everett, ZY998, Boeing’s 787 fatigue airframe exited the factory paintshop where it had spent the previous five days receiving a fresh coat of white paint.

Many have asked me, “Why does and airplane that will never fly need to be painted?”

Epoxy resin, one of the chief ingredients in composites, is susceptible to deterioration from UV rays from the Sun. Because ZY998 will spend its life testing the airframe structure outdoors, it requires that additional layer of protection.

I asked Justin Hale, Chief 787 Program Mechanic, about the UV light issue earlier this year if paint gets scraped off an aircraft in service, as it routinely does. Here’s what he had to say:

Boeing has “Created allowances with missing paint that helps sort through the immediate challenge of the UV exposure and what’s it doing to the structure. We’ve provided allowable damage limits to operate with paint missing. When you do expose composite to UV, it damages the outer layer of the resin. It goes from clear and you can see carbon fibers, then to grayish opaque. It becomes obvious. You can see the damage, just look at it. The repair is fairly simple, you sand out the resin and in most cases it stands that outer layer becomes the protection for everything underneath. Just sand it off and repaint it.

This will be one of the unique realities for 787s when they enter service. It’s also the reasons that American Airlines won’t be able to have a true bare metal livery on its Dreamliners. Put simply, there’s no bare metal. See what’s underneath.

After ZY998 left the paintshop it spent several hours on the flight line and allowed itself to be photographed by Matt Cawby, before returning to Building 40-24. As far as I know, it’s the first shot of a Dreamliner and Dreamlifter together outside. In the coming years, this will be a routine sight, but for now it’s a first.

As Boeing continues to tackle the time consuming replacement of thousands of fasteners, 787 production remains frozen and is pacing a formal assessment of the program’s schedule, including a timeline for first flight and delivery.

Though a revised 787 schedule for the start of the flight test program is yet to be determined, Boeing is focusing its efforts for the remainder of 2008 on providing a clean bill of structural health to Dreamliner One.

Boeing declined to comment on the pace of the on-going schedule assessment.

According to sources familiar with the fastener replacement timeline, the expected completion of the fix for Dreamliner One should come by the end of December.

Yet, the on-going fastener replacement is reverberating down the assembly line. Everett, WA-based sources add that no production airframe movements are scheduled for the remainder of the year, resulting in final assembly start for Dreamliner Five, the first General Electric GEnx powered 787, being pushed into 2009.

However, late last week, ZY998, the fatigue test airframe, exited Building 40-24 for the paint shop. The move took place after dark, says one program source, adding that the improperly installed fasteners will be addressed after ZY998 leaves the paint shop.