Breaking: Boeing confirms 787 slip to mid-first quarter 2011 (Update1)

Passed midnight on the east coast and this is just out from Boeing:

EVERETT, Wash., Aug. 27 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — The Boeing (NYSE: BA) Company said today that it now expects delivery of the first 787 in the middle of the first quarter 2011.

The delivery date revision follows an assessment of the availability of an engine needed for the final phases of flight test this fall.

While Boeing works closely with Rolls-Royce to expedite engine availability, flight testing across the test fleet continues as planned.

Boeing said last month that the cumulative impact of a series of issues, including supplier workmanship issues related to the horizontal stabilizer and instrumentation delays, could push first delivery of the 787 a few weeks into 2011. The delay in engine availability has extended that estimate to mid-first quarter 2011.

The schedule revision will not affect the company’s financial guidance.

UPDATE 12:05 AM PT: Here’s my full story on the announcement, including what could potentially be happening with the future of the Package A engine.

While the airframer did not explicitly address the uncontained 2
August failure of a ‘Package A’ Trent 1000 in its announcement, the
company says “the delivery date revision follows an assessment of the
availability of an engine needed for the final phases of flight test
this fall”, indicating ‘Package B’ powerplants may be substituted for
the early build Trent 1000s for ANA.

With a lack of specifics from Boeing and Rolls-Royce, the future of
the Package A engine remains uncertain. However, indications exist that
a modification for the failed part will be fed back into the early
production engines with the fall testing related to flying Airplane
Nine – the first production 787 to fly – on limited engineering tests,
instead of Package B certification testing on test aircraft four.