According to sources in Everett, internal schedules show the overall assembly calendar for Boeing’s Dreamliner One around three weeks behind the revised schedule, Flightblogger has learned. To make up time, Boeing has shifted significant manpower resources to achieve the aircraft power on milestone by month’s end. Work in Building 40-26 is almost exclusively focused on meeting this target on time.
The slippage can be attributed at least partially to on going part shortages and the ramp up of the over 30,000 part supply chain that drives the 787 Dreamliner program.
Boeing was repeatedly approached for comment but had not responded by press time.
787 Program Manager Pat Shanahan identified power on as a critical goal at Boeing’s December 11th Conference Call update:
“I’m focused on this milestone for two main reasons. First, power on is a significant knowledge point technically because we can then retire risk around the integration of the airplane. And second, our schedule becomes much more predictable once we get the power on because the airplane is finally in the state that our factory was designed for.”
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This post originally appeared at Flightglobal.com from 2007 to 2012.