Boeing Does Redesign Work On 787 - Report
 

Gerald

I wonder if its going to blow out more than the A380. Both Boeing and Airbus are using new technology so there will have to be problems along the line somewhere.

I guess Airbus hope it will and Boeing hope it wont, at least with the A380 delays it makes it easier for Boeing to justify the delays, as ugly as it might seem, its make more sense to delay before its released then to gain bad publicity and require retrofits after release.
Look at A380, all the post delivery publicity and response has been very positive.

Something I've wanted to mention to you guys back in Oz for a while during the board outage ..... I can't see power on being as currently anticipated. I was up at PAE the other day and saw the first three frames. There is a lot of work yet to be done, pieces lying all around the aircraft, and at the time I was there not a whole lot of people working on it (could have been shift change and it was a FRI). The factory floor is a sight to be seen. Unlike the conventional factory floor with a couple of small stations I would estimate around 500 small cubicles and stations each with a laptop or desktop and hundreds of employees working out in the open. There were panels missing, cowlings off, and the paint looked a little sad after its roll out ceremony. The second and third frames on the line (non-airworthy test) looked in better shape and seemed to have more attention on them.
Looks can be deceiving and I'm sure another update from Boeing (read possible delay) may be around the corner.
I wouldn't put much emphasis on 'changing the design/specs' articles as it's well known they are trying to reduce weight issues and that also falls under this category.
Scott.

Thanks Scott for the first-hand information mate! :) ... great that you're able to share such information!

Just curious though... this entire time I've been wondering what exactly has been the root cause of these 787 delays. You stated that the 787 ate too much and now is on a diet..but is this the sole reason for these continual delays or just the latest of a string of problems?

Boeing made it clear that the first few 787 frames would be overweight, no suprise there.. but these continual delays suggest that the weight problems are more a 'permanent' issue rather than just exclusive to the first few frames... :o

According to other sources (the orders E group), it seems as if the major problem is a full redesign of the wing box. This redesign has also contributed to the weight problem and slowed down the whole process.

Thanks for that Ash!

Makes me wonder though... is this wingbox redesign required purely because a problem arose as they began putting the first few frames together (ie: a legitimate issue that came up) ... or .... whether they're attempting to modify the wingbox and its surrounding structure to put in a larger landing gear so as to further increase MTOW of the 787-10 and other possible variants such as the -11 or -9LR.
I've got the distinct impression that Airbus' strategy to offer a 787+777 competitor in the A350X as opposed to a direct 787 opponent has caught Boeing off guard, and they've come to the realisation that eventhough the 787-8 is an excellent sized aircraft, the 787 range won't be easy to extend into a 777-sized category. I'm guessing they never planned on having to create a 777 family replacement so soon since the 777 was/is doing well..but Airbus's strategy has meant that the 787-9 is currently the largest next-generation aircraft Boeing has on offer (excluding the 747-8 since it seems like a sales-lemon)..and airlines are wanting something a bit bigger than the -9 to go alongside their current 787-8/9 order (Qantas is of course a prime example of this). Most importantly, they don't want the 787-10 to simply be the same MTOW as the -9 and just trade capacity for range.

This is why I believe Boeing is still stuck in deciding between offering a 787-10 with no MTOW increase (the cheap, quick and 'easy' option but not many airlines will be impressed)... or going all out and expanding the 787 family to effectively counter the A350X family (but in the process pretty much kill-off the 777, and this will be cost and time intensive program extension).


Oh decisions decisions... :(

and so we await equal hysteria to that surrounding the A380 delays..........:rolleyes:

What will be most interesting is the compensation dollars that Boeing will have fork out..more importantly how they go about it. The A380 delays did wonders for A330 sales due to airlines opting to order discounted A330s over receiving compensation cash... wonder if Boeing will adopt a similar pricing strategy for their 777s since the 767 wouldn't really be an attractive option for airlines.

There have been rumours circulating that Virgin Atlantic is planning to cancel its 787 order due to the delays and in the interim order some 777s.
Thing is though, I doubt Boeing and GE would be too willing to give heavy discounts on their 772LRs or 773ERs...and at the same time I get the impression not many airlines would be interested in additional 772ER since it is now widely known that the 772LR out-performs the -200ER on missions greater than ~5000nm due to its ability to lift more cargo.

http://www.nea.gov/national/homecomi...gLogoSmall.jpg

787 Programme Update | Boeing Announces Agreement to Acquire Vought Share of Global Aeronautica

SEATTLE, March 28 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The Boeing Company (NYSE: BA) announced today it has agreed to acquire Vought Aircraft Industries' interest in Global Aeronautica, LLC, a South Carolina fuselage sub-assembly facility for Boeing's newest airplane, the 787 Dreamliner. After the transaction is complete, Global Aeronautica will become a 50-50 joint venture between The Boeing Company and Alenia North America, a subsidiary of Italy's Alenia Aeronautica -- a Finmeccanica company. Vought will continue to produce the aft fuselage for the 787 at its facility adjacent to Global Aeronautica in North Charleston.

Link to Full Article


Sounds like a further delay announcement soon, but at the same time it looks like Boeing is taking some pretty big and important steps to get the 787 mess sorted out and the programme back on track!