Boeing Co's announcement on Wednesday that it would delay initial deliveries of the 787 Dreamliner by six months is a blow to a program that had been seen as the most successful in commercial aviation -- a seemingly perfect blend of new technology, marketing and production line innovations.
Yet, as the company's stock fell below US$100 a share, Boeing officials remained confident that the program remains on track for the long haul.
Analysts as well saw the delay as more of a temporary setback, and not of the same magnitude as the problems that rival Airbus has experienced in producing its superjumbo A380, which has also fallen behind schedule, but by two years.
PHOTO: AP
Boeing's delivery delay was caused by the problems of Boeing's global chain of suppliers in completing their work, as well as unanticipated difficulties in its flight-control software.
The delivery delay comes after Boeing announced last month a three-month delay in the plane's flight-test program caused, in part, by a worldwide shortage of fasteners that hold together the plane's fuselage, wing and tail sections.
"We are very disappointed over the schedule changes that we are announcing today," said W. James McNerney Jr, Boeing's chief executive officer.
"Notwithstanding the challenges that we are experiencing in bringing forward this game-changing product, we remain confident in the design of the 787, and in the fundamental innovation and technologies that underpin it," he said.
With 710 orders worth US$100 billion from 50 airlines, the Dreamliner has been the fastest-selling commercial aircraft in history. It is also one of the most innovative. It is being made, in pieces, all over the world, with only the final assembly taking place at Boeing's plant in Everett, Washington.
Its fuselage will be the first to make extensive use of composite materials rather than traditional aluminum. It will use new energy-efficient engines, and its interior cabin is being designed to provide more humidity and bigger windows for passenger comfort.
The first delivery of the planes, to All Nippon Airways, is now scheduled for late November or early December next year, rather than May. The first test flight will take place at the end of next March, rather than at the end of this year, Boeing said.
While Boeing said the delays would not lower its earnings for this year or for next, the announcement was clearly a setback in the image of a program that had appeared to be nearly flawless in its execution.
It also showed that Boeing, which had the program on a highly ambitious schedule, might have been overly optimistic about what it could deliver -- and when.
"Annoyance is the first word that comes to mind," said Howard Rubel, an analyst with Jefferies & Co. "It's annoying because they have done so many good things to get this program right. But this provides that the program is a little more complicated than they expected."
Scott Carson, head of Boeing Commercial Aviation, said on Wednesday that it was too early to determine what penalties Boeing might have to pay to customers as a result of the delay.
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