US aerospace giant Boeing is readying the 787 Dreamliner for its first test flight in the coming days, banking on the new fuel-efficient plane to sail above stiff market headwinds.
Boeing expects the much-delayed Dreamliner to have its maiden flight by June 30 on a schedule that puts delivery of the plane to first customer, All Nippon Airways (ANA), in the first quarter of next year.
“We’re very much looking forward to seeing our airplane take to the skies,” Marc Birtel, a Boeing spokesman, said in a phone interview on Friday.
PHOTO: AFP
No specific date has been announced for the flight.
Nearly two years behind the initial schedule, the company has delayed the Dreamliner’s first flight four times since launching the program in 2004 because of production problems.
The Chicago-based company announced on Wednesday final assembly had begun on the first aircraft destined for ANA, which has ordered 50 Dreamliners.
“This is a great day for the 787 team,” Scott Fancher, vice president and general manager of the Dreamliner program, said in a statement. “In 2004, ANA demonstrated great faith in Boeing and the 787 by placing the largest launch order for any new airplane in Boeing history.”
Boeing has built six Dreamliners that will be used in the flight-test program to assure the plane’s safety for the company and for regulators, including the Federal Aviation Administration and foreign authorities, Birtel said.
“The main mantra is safety,” he said.
Boeing says it has 865 orders from 56 airlines for the cutting-edge plane, claiming it is the “fastest-selling all-new jetliner in aviation history.”
The 787 Dreamliner is the company’s first new model in more than a decade and features 50 percent plastic composites, compared with 12 percent on its 777s, helping lower fuel consumption.
According to Boeing, the 787 will use 20 percent less fuel than similarly sized airplanes, reducing emissions by a similar amount.
Plagued by problems from a complex international production system and a two-month machinists strike last year, the Dreamliner’s delays have irked customers and resulted in order cancelations.
The latest delay, announced last December, postponed first flight into the second quarter of this year, from the fourth quarter of last year. Launch customer ANA complained about the new delay for the first delivery, which was initially set for the third quarter of last year.
In January, Russian carrier S7 Airlines announced the cancelation of an order for 15 Dreamliners. The next month Boeing said that Dubai-based aircraft leasing company LCAL had canceled 16 of the 21 planes ordered.
The launch of the new plane comes amid turbulence in the aviation industry as the global economy slumps in the worst economic crisis in decades. A plunge in passenger air travel has led to massive cancelations and deferrals of aircraft orders.
The International Air Transport Association projects that passenger traffic will fall 8 percent this year and airlines could lose US$9 billion, almost double the estimate three months ago.
That would be on top of US$10.4 billion lost last year, according to IATA.
Boeing earlier this month lowered its outlook for the world commercial airplane market over the next two decades because of the global economic downturn, slumping air traffic and volatile fuel prices.
But it forecast the growing Asia Pacific region will lead the commercial airplane market in both units and value.
Japanese carriers buy almost exclusively from the US aerospace giant, which is keeping a close eye on arch rival Airbus.
The France-based manufacturer, a unit of the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company, has begun working on a new long-range A350 plane aimed at competing with the Dreamliner, expected to fly in mid-2013.
Boeing’s financial losses have shaken investor confidence and the company has announced 10,000 job cuts for this year, including 4,500 in the commercial aircraft division.
NATIONAL SECURITY THREAT: An official said that Guan Guan’s comments had gone beyond the threshold of free speech, as she advocated for the destruction of the ROC China-born media influencer Guan Guan’s (關關) residency permit has been revoked for repeatedly posting pro-China content that threatens national security, the National Immigration Agency said yesterday. Guan Guan has said many controversial things in her videos posted to Douyin (抖音), including “the red flag will soon be painted all over Taiwan” and “Taiwan is an inseparable part of China,” while expressing hope for expedited “reunification.” The agency received multiple reports alleging that Guan Guan had advocated for armed reunification last year. After investigating, the agency last month issued a notice requiring her to appear and account for her actions. Guan Guan appeared as required,
A strong cold air mass is expected to arrive tonight, bringing a change in weather and a drop in temperature, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The coldest time would be early on Thursday morning, with temperatures in some areas dipping as low as 8°C, it said. Daytime highs yesterday were 22°C to 24°C in northern and eastern Taiwan, and about 25°C to 28°C in the central and southern regions, it said. However, nighttime lows would dip to about 15°C to 16°C in central and northern Taiwan as well as the northeast, and 17°C to 19°C elsewhere, it said. Tropical Storm Nokaen, currently
‘NATO-PLUS’: ‘Our strategic partners in the Indo-Pacific are facing increasing aggression by the Chinese Communist Party,’ US Representative Rob Wittman said The US House of Representatives on Monday released its version of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, which includes US$1.15 billion to support security cooperation with Taiwan. The omnibus act, covering US$1.2 trillion of spending, allocates US$1 billion for the Taiwan Security Cooperation Initiative, as well as US$150 million for the replacement of defense articles and reimbursement of defense services provided to Taiwan. The fund allocations were based on the US National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal 2026 that was passed by the US Congress last month and authorized up to US$1 billion to the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency in support of the
PAPERS, PLEASE: The gang exploited the high value of the passports, selling them at inflated prices to Chinese buyers, who would treat them as ‘invisibility cloaks’ The Yilan District Court has handed four members of a syndicate prison terms ranging from one year and two months to two years and two months for their involvement in a scheme to purchase Taiwanese passports and resell them abroad at a massive markup. A Chinese human smuggling syndicate purchased Taiwanese passports through local criminal networks, exploiting the passports’ visa-free travel privileges to turn a profit of more than 20 times the original price, the court said. Such criminal organizations enable people to impersonate Taiwanese when entering and exiting Taiwan and other countries, undermining social order and the credibility of the nation’s
RSS