Airbus and Boeing products running behind schedule

[CheshireTom 1,377]

The fact that passengers have lost their lives as a result of P&W catastrophic engine failures is completely irrelevant as far as BigD is concerned - all he cares about is the fact that a RR Trent suffered a failure and could have killed all the passengers and crew.... The fact that the A380 landed safely without a single fatality is completely irrelevant to him!!!

 

I realise that he's a xenophobic twat just trying to hide behind his Boeing nonsense. He just shows himself up as a complete dickhead with every post he makes. Still, he's got to pass the time somehow while he saves up to make his annual trip to LOS.

 

 

[BigDUSA 71]

So many personal attacks from tommie. Only forum wanker invades a BM privacy. Sad little man.

[TheFiend 1,181]

Airbus beats Boeing again!!!

 

(Reuters) - Airbus sprinted past Boeing to win the annual orders race in 2010 after a last-minute airline buying spree highlighted a recovery in emerging markets and the low-fare sector, the planemaker said on Monday.

 

The EADS (EAD.PA) subsidiary said it had sold 644 planes worth more than $84 billion (53 billion pounds) at list prices in 2010, beating arch-rival Boeing's (BA.N) total of 625 planes, following a surge of some 200 plane orders in December.

 

"These figures show the economy is improving. We have dodged the bullet on a double-dip recession. Aviation is growing again because of Asia, low-cost carriers and emerging markets," Airbus sales chef John Leahy told reporters.

 

"The only negative on the horizon is the fuel price."

 

Adjusting for cancellations, Airbus sold a net total of 574 planes worth $74 billion at list prices compared with Boeing's 530, giving the European firm a market share of 52 percent.

 

The orders were stronger than many analysts had predicted.

 

Industry sources, however, told Reuters last week Airbus was poised to pull off a surprise win in both net and gross orders as it approached the 10,000th order in its 40-year history, while remaining ahead on jetliner deliveries.

 

Boeing reported 625 gross orders and 530 net orders in 2010 after more than doubling its sales from 2009 when business was left floundering by the financial crisis.

 

Both firms more than doubled their order intake in 2010 as airlines staged a stronger-than-expected recovery. They share the commercial market for large airplanes with at least 100 seats but face challenges from Canada, China, Russia and Brazil.

 

For the eighth year running, Airbus delivered more planes than its U.S. rival. Its total of 510 deliveries, up from 498 in 2009, topped the 500 mark for the first time at Airbus.

 

The total number of jetliners reaching the market dipped as Boeing deliveries fell 4 percent to 462 aircraft.

 

Airbus Chief Executive Tom Enders said the planemaker would increase commercial deliveries to 520-530 planes in 2011 and sell more than it delivers, without giving a more precise goal.

 

"2010 has been better than we expected. We will look at 2011 more optimistically," Enders said.

 

Airbus posted total revenue of "around 30 billion euros" ($39.9 billion) in 2010, Enders said, up from 28,067 billion in 2009.

 

Planemakers get paid when jets are delivered, usually at least 18 months after they are bought and often longer. The results met EADS forecasts for deliveries of more than 500 and beat the top end of the target for gross orders.

 

Airbus, which had started the year predicting up to 300 orders, raised the forecast to "north of 400" as leasing companies and low-cost airlines flooded back into the market at the Farnborough air show in July, and then targeted "up to 500."

 

Airbus beats Boeing on deliveries yet again

 

Now sits back and waits for all the Boeing fan-boys to slagging off Airbus !!!

[TheFiend 1,181]

Airbus announce Virgin America 320NEO order!!!

 

Deal was signed on 29th December and announced today at a press conference to mark the Airbus 10,000th order.

 

Virgin America Places $5.1 Billion Airbus A320 Order to Double Fleet Size

By Andrea Rothman and Mary Jane Credeur - Jan 17, 2011 10:30 AM GMT

 

Virgin America Inc., the carrier part owned by British billionaire Richard Branson, ordered 60 Airbus SAS planes valued at $5.1 billion in a plan to more than double its fleet while cutting its carbon footprint.

 

Branson, 60, planned to come to Toulouse, France, where Airbus is based, for the company’s annual press conference, to announce the order for 30 A320 single-aisle planes as well as 30 upgraded models of that plane.

 

The latter jets, known as A320 NEOs, will carry new engines that are 15 percent more fuel efficient, cutting costs and allowing Virgin America to carry more passengers across the U.S.

 

“Our analysis, given our network, is that with oil at $80 a barrel, the fuel savings will come to $1.1 million per aircraft a year,” Chief Executive Officer David Cush said in an interview. Cutting the carbon footprint and nitrogen oxide emissions is a “big part of what Virgin’s about,” he said.

 

The upgraded planes will allow the carrier to begin flying A320s that can carry 27 more passengers than the current A319s from Boston to San Francisco, Cush said. Virgin is currently unable to fly full A320 loads on the six-and-a-half hour trip in wintertime, when harsher weather demands more fuel. Delivery of the new planes will start in 2016.

 

“These planes offer performance improvement of 500 miles of range -- important for us because we do a lot of trans- continental routes,” Cush said. “That extra 500 miles means that in the more difficult weather environments we find ourselves facing in winter, we can go with a full payload.”

 

Additional Planes

 

Virgin America in July pledged to buy 40 A320s, and the announced order firms up that commitment and adds 20 more planes. Virgin has swapped 10 of the aircraft in the July commitment for the upgraded A320s, which will offer a choice of new engines from United Technologies Corp.’s Pratt & Whitney or the Leap-X from CFM International Inc., the joint venture of General Electric Co. and Safran SA of France.

 

A decision on an engine hasn’t been made yet, Cush said.

 

Virgin America serves more than a dozen cities from its hometown hub in San Francisco, including new routes to Toronto and San Jose del Cabo, Mexico. Additional cities being considered include Chicago, Dallas and Austin, Texas.

 

Virgin America now has 34 aircraft in its fleet, all from Airbus, and will add 12 planes in 2011 and another four more joining the fleet in 2012, Cush said.

 

Cush also said today that he was “optimistic” about getting gates that would allow the airline to fly into Chicago’s O’Hare and expected a decision by February.

 

The carrier has been in discussions with Chicago over gates at O’Hare airport for almost three years, with the airline seeking to lease one to two gates.

 

List Price

 

The list price for the twin-engine, single-aisle A320 is $81.4 million. Airbus has said it would add $6 million to the price for the NEO, though an official list price for the model with new engines hasn’t been specified.

 

While the planes are valued at $5.1 billion at list price, airlines always receive discounts from planemakers’ published figures.

 

The 320NEO is certainly attracting some business..... Branson being attracted by it's green credentials with a 15% fuel saving and it also allows them to expand their network with it's increased range.

[BigDUSA 71]

Airbus beats Boeing on deliveries yet again

 

Now sits back and waits for all the Boeing fan-boys to slagging off Airbus !!!

 

Congratulations to Airbus on a good year. I hope you have as many sales this year as in 2010.

[TheFiend 1,181]

Congratulations to Airbus on a good year. I hope you have as many sales this year as in 2010.

 

I don't believe for one second that you mean that!!!

[wacmedia 277]

Hi,

 

Another strong year for Airbus. 787 delays must be hitting Boeing hard.

[CheshireTom 1,377]

Posted on January 14, 2011 at 2:31 PM

 

SEATTLE - On Monday the aircraft manufacturing industry will find out whether Boeing or Airbus is number one in orders for 2010. Boeing issued its numbers on January 6th, with a total of 530 new orders. Airbus is expected to fall short, perhaps well short, of that number.

The European airplane company hasn't discussed numbers since early December. If the forecast holds, Monday will put Boeing back in the number one position as the world's biggest plane maker.

 

 

Ooops ..... he's consistent, if nothing else.

 

 

 

Edited January 17, 2011 by CheshireTom

[BigDUSA 71]

I don't believe for one second that you mean that!!!

 

Why not wish Airbus well. I hope they do well this year. If I didn't believe it. I wouldn't say it. That's the way I roll.

[BigDUSA 71]

By GEORGE TIBBITS, Associated Press George Tibbits, Associated Press – 2 hrs 33 mins ago

 

SEATTLE – Boeing Co. on Monday resumed the flight tests of its long-delayed 787 jetliner aimed at achieving Federal Aviation Administration certification for the aircraft.

 

Boeing halted all flight testing of the two-engine widebody jet following a Nov. 9 in-flight electrical fire in a power distribution system that forced a 787 to make an emergency landing in Laredo, Texas. The flight tests resumed in late December after Boeing came up with an interim software fix, but not the tests for FAA certification.

 

The federal agency must certify aircraft before they can enter service, an all-important milestone Boeing must achieve before deliveries can begin on the aircraft, already three years late getting to customers.

 

The plane involved in the FAA tests made two flights Monday from Yuma, Ariz., the second lasting about three hours as it made a series of back-and-forth loops over the southern Arizona desert.

 

Boeing spokeswoman Lori Gunter said two other 787s also were in the air elsewhere in the country, including the aircraft that had the fire, which made its first flight since returning from Laredo to the Seattle area.

 

Gunter told The Associated Press she could not provide details about the testing. "We just don't do that on a day-to-day basis," she said.

 

Gunter said Boeing has four 787s in active flight tests, with the remaining two in the testing program expected to be flying again in the next week or so.

 

She declined to say when Boeing might announce a revised delivery schedule for the plane. Japan's All Nippon Airways had been scheduled to receive the first 787 early this year before the latest setback.

 

Last Wednesday, Jim Albaugh, president and CEO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes, told reporters that the company hoped to announce a delivery schedule within two weeks, but the FAA first had "to agree to the fixes we're going to put in place" and give its permission to restart certification flights.

 

Even before last fall's fire, production problems, including those from outsourcing much of the aircraft's construction, had forced repeated delays for jet, which made its first flight in December 2009.

QUOTE

 

[TheFiend 1,181]

She declined to say when Boeing might announce a revised delivery schedule for the plane. Japan's All Nippon Airways had been scheduled to receive the first 787 early this year before the latest setback.

 

7LATE7 deliveries postponed until Q3 2011 at the earliest....

 

And there's rumours of another A380 order in the pipline...

[BigDUSA 71]

7LATE7 deliveries postponed until Q3 2011 at the earliest....

 

And there's rumours of another A380 order in the pipline...

 

I would hope there's another A380 order in the pipeline. Hell, Airbus needs a couple of hundred orders to reach break even. Then again Boeing is a couple of hundred orders past the break even point.

Edited January 19, 2011 by BigDUSA

[CheshireTom 1,377]

I would hope there's another A380 order in the pipeline. Hell, Airbus needs a couple of hundred orders to reach break even. Then again Boeing is a couple of hundred orders past the break even point.

 

Only in BigD's Fantasy World.

[BigDUSA 71]

CHICAGO (Reuters) – Boeing Co (BA.N) said the first delivery of its long-delayed 787 Dreamliner would come in the third quarter of 2011, clearing up fears about the schedule after a November electrical fire on a test flight threw the timing into doubt.

 

Boeing shares rose more than 3 percent as investors were relieved the widely expected delay was not longer. The Dreamliner is already nearly three years behind its original schedule due to glitches in the supply chain and labor problems. (For a timeline graphic on Boeing and its Dreamliner: http://r.reuters.com/cuv86r )

 

"We think investors widely expected a delay of this magnitude and, given the recovery in the stock price, have become comfortable that the 787 problems are not a show stopper, and will not have a meaningful impact on the positive trajectory of this aerospace upcycle," said Robert Stallard, an aerospace analyst at RBC Capital Markets.

 

Boeing shares tumbled 9 percent in the wake of the November 9 fire, which forced an emergency landing, but they have recouped that drop. The shares were up 3.3 percent at $72.37 at midday Tuesday on the New York Stock Exchange.

 

"If Boeing can avoid further 787 issues, we think improving airline and industry fundamentals will continue to benefit the stock and potentially move its valuation higher," Stallard said.

 

Boeing said the new delivery date reflects the impact of the November fire and the time required to produce, install and test updated software and new electrical power distribution panels in the flight test and production planes.

 

"This revised timeline for first delivery accommodates the work we believe remains to be done to complete testing and certification of the 787," Scott Fancher, vice president and general manager of the 787 program, said in a statement.

 

"We've also restored some margin in the schedule to allow for any additional time that may be needed to complete certification activities," Fancher said.

 

The first Dreamliner delivery has been delayed repeatedly due to snags in the supply chain and labor disputes. Boeing last revised the 787 delivery schedule in September because of a delay in the availability of a Rolls-Royce Group Plc (RR.L) engine needed for the final phases of flight testing.

 

Boeing said financial forecasts and anticipated initial 787 deliveries for 2011 will be discussed after the company reports its fourth-quarter earnings on January 26.

 

Many industry experts had long expected the delay to Japan's All Nippon Airways Co Ltd (9202.T), but opinions differed on how long it might be.

 

"We are pleased, as it should settle some investors' fears," said Alex Hamilton, managing director of EarlyBirdCapital. "That said, they haven't done a good job of achieving the goals of the 787 schedules."

 

Boeing currently has 847 orders for the Dreamliner, which promises a quieter and more comfortable ride for passengers.

 

Boeing has not said how much it has invested in the Dreamliner or how much it has spent. The company offers two versions of its Dreamliner, which lists between $185.2 million and $218.1 million. Boeing receives payment for airplanes at delivery.

 

Boeing competes for orders with European rival Airbus, an EADS (EAD.PA) component, which celebrated on Monday a surprising win in the annual orders race with the 10,000th plane sale in its 40-year history, part of a $5 billion order from Virgin America.

 

Last-minute orders for 200 planes in December pushed Airbus past Boeing for a third year. Boeing, whose net orders were hit by cancellations in 2009, bounced back in 2010, but Airbus still managed a 52 percent market share.

QUOTE

[TheFiend 1,181]

Boeing currently has 847 orders for the Dreamliner, which promises a quieter and more comfortable ride for passengers.

 

Boeing has not said how much it has invested in the Dreamliner or how much it has spent. The company offers two versions of its Dreamliner, which lists between $185.2 million and $218.1 million. Boeing receives payment for airplanes at delivery.

 

And yet BigD claims to know where Boeing's break-even point is for the 7LATE7!!!

 

I would hope there's another A380 order in the pipeline. Hell, Airbus needs a couple of hundred orders to reach break even. Then again Boeing is a couple of hundred orders past the break even point.

[Samsonite 181]

"DATE:19/01/11

SOURCE:Air Transport Intelligence news

Boeing gets Chinese approval for 200-aircraft deal

 

Boeing has received Chinese government approval for orders placed by Chinese airlines for 200 aircraft, worth $19 billion.

 

The aircraft comprise narrowbody 737s and widebody 777s and will be delivered between 2011 and 2013, says the US manufacturer.

 

Boeing was not immediately available to confirm whether the aircraft are included in previously announced commitments, or whether they are already included in the airframer's firm order backlog."

 

http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/2011/...craft-deal.html

 

Only Flightglobal, who is London based and extremely bias in favor of Airbus, would put that last sentence in the story.

Edited January 19, 2011 by Samsonite

[TheFiend 1,181]

"DATE:19/01/11

SOURCE:Air Transport Intelligence news

Boeing gets Chinese approval for 200-aircraft deal

 

Boeing has received Chinese government approval for orders placed by Chinese airlines for 200 aircraft, worth $19 billion.

 

The aircraft comprise narrowbody 737s and widebody 777s and will be delivered between 2011 and 2013, says the US manufacturer.

 

Boeing was not immediately available to confirm whether the aircraft are included in previously announced commitments, or whether they are already included in the airframer's firm order backlog."

 

http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/2011/...craft-deal.html

 

Only Flightglobal, who is London based and extremely bias in favor of Airbus, would put that last sentence in the story.

 

Only a Boeing fanboy would come up with a ludicrous statement like that!!!!

[TheFiend 1,181]

Airbus expecting busy year for A380 order talks

 

Airbus expecting busy year for A380 order talks

By Max Kingsley-Jones

 

With agreements from two new customers in as many months, airframer expects busy year ahead for more order talks

 

Airbus is confident that the recent flurry of new business for the A380 signals the beginning of an upturn in fortunes for the sleeping giant.

 

After a lean sales spell, two new customers have been added in almost as many months as Airbus looks to underpin the orders from the original launch airlines. Many of these are - or are about to begin - earning money with the 500-seater that Airbus is convinced is a game-changer.

 

"We think this is going to be a busy year," says A380 product marketing chief Richard Carcaillet. "There are a number of campaigns and discussions going on."

 

The sales revival began in November when Japanese domestic carrier Skymark announced an agreement for four aircraft (which is yet to be firmed up), and this was followed by January's order from Asiana for six aircraft, taking total sales - 10 years since the launch - to 244 aircraft from 19 customers (including lessor International Lease Finance and a VIP operator). Carcaillet says that the earliest slots now available are for 2015 deliveries.

 

But Airbus's challenge is to secure the new business in its sights from the network carriers that are yet to commit, and achieve significantly better pricing on the deals than with the launch customers. All early A380 customers negotiated significant "launch discounts", compounding Airbus's efforts to recover the excessive losses that the programme incurred due to the lengthy production delays.

 

Airbus boss Tom Enders claimed recently that new contracts "are no longer at launch prices", but these may still be some way from the level targeted by the Airbus bean-counters. And to convince blue-chip network carriers to pay top dollar for the jet, which officially retails for $350 million a shot, Airbus must make its marketing line - much-touted by chief salesman John Leahy - that "it takes an A380 to compete with an A380", a reality. When it does, Airbus is sure that target customers such as Cathay Pacific and the Japanese network carriers should come knocking.

 

Japan's deep-rooted links with Boeing have always made the country's airlines a hard sell for Airbus, but Japan Airlines and All Nippon Airways - which have been major customers for the Boeing 747 - are longstanding targets for the A380 sales team.

 

They are already feeling the pressure from some of the existing A380 operators that fly the A380 to Japan, and this has been compounded by the recent breakthrough agreement with Tokyo Haneda-based domestic operator Skymark, which will use its four A380s for new long-haul services. "The Japanese carriers operate in a concentrated market and very much have the potential to use this aircraft. It is a matter of time," says Carcaillet.

 

 

Who will be next to join the club?

South Korea's Asiana perfectly fits the Airbus A380 salesman's target airline profile. Based in one of the fast-growing Asian regions, facing direct competition from a (soon to be) A380 ­operator, Korean Air, and a long-standing Boeing 747 operator, Asiana would have been high on the sales team's list of prospects for the A380.

 

 

The airline operates four 747-400s and will replace them with the A380s from 2014. It will deploy the new double-deckers from its Seoul hub to points in Europe and the USA. "The significantly reduced operating costs and fuel efficiencies will enable us to enhance our productivity and reduce our carbon footprint," says chief executive Yoon Young-Doo. Most of the airlines that have already signed up for the A380 have had large 747 fleets, and there are still some significant operators that are yet to commit and must be viewed as key potential new clients for Airbus. These are largely Asian airlines - Cathay Pacific, China Airlines, EVA Air, Air China and the two Japanese network carriers.

 

However, Airbus's A380 head of product marketing, Richard Carcaillet, does not rule out the possibility of securing business from the two significant US 747-400 operators - Delta Air Lines and United Airlines. "There is clear potential [to sell A380s to US carriers], which becomes glaringly obvious with the consolidation between Northwest and Delta and United and Continental," says Carcaillet. He expects the A380's benefits to become increasingly clear to the US carriers as the competition grows from rival airlines introducing the double-decker on more of their routes. Intriguingly, Boeing did not have its stretched 747, the -8I, at the forefront of its Asiana campaign, says A380 product marketing director Keith Stonestreet: "The 747 wasn't coming out as one of the key competitors."

 

Stonestreet hints that Boeing's apparently unsuccessful pitch was based around the smaller 777-300ER and the view that the best way for Asiana to grow capacity was with a larger number of smaller widebodies. "I don't believe an airline [like Asiana] that has an existing network with key routes into congested points can do without the A380," says Carcaillet.

Emirates re-confirmed its faith in the A380 last year with a top-up order for 32 aircraft, taking its total commitment to 90, but this was the first significant endorsement for the A380 for several years. Before the Skymark deal, Airbus had added just two new airlines to its A380 customer list since 2006.

 

No doubt Scallywally will call this a biased article!!!

Edited January 19, 2011 by TheFiend

[CheshireTom 1,377]

Only Flightglobal, who is London based and extremely bias in favor of Airbus, would put that last sentence in the story.

 

I agree. Disgusting , biased journalism.

 

Luckily, the Seattle times was on hand to put things straight.

 

 

Big Boeing order from China dates back to 2007

 

The big Boeing order from China trumpeted during the state visit to the White House of Chinese President Hu Jintao is actually a re-announcement of previous orders.

By Dominic Gates

Your Unbiased Seattle Times Aerospace Reporter

 

The announcement of a huge Chinese order for 200 Boeing jets, trumpeted with great fanfare early Wednesday, was merely political window dressing for the state visit to the White House of Chinese President Hu Jintao.

 

The deal does not include any new jet orders.

 

All of the airplanes in the sale were announced and booked by Boeing as firm orders over the past four years. Chinese airlines had already paid nonrefundable deposits and signed contracts for the jets, most of them as far back as 2007.

 

"The only thing new is (Chinese) government approval," said Boeing spokesman Miles Kotay.

 

Chinese airlines decide on orders somewhat independently, but the final deals must always be formally approved by the government.

 

Boeing spokeswoman Mary Foerster insisted this Chinese government sign-off is important.

 

"The deal isn't done until the approval is given," she said.

[TheFiend 1,181]

I agree. Disgusting , biased journalism.

 

Luckily, the Seattle times was on hand to put things straight.

 

The big Boeing order from China trumpeted during the state visit to the White House of Chinese President Hu Jintao is actually a re-announcement of previous orders.

 

The announcement of a huge Chinese order for 200 Boeing jets, trumpeted with great fanfare early Wednesday, was merely political window dressing for the state visit to the White House of Chinese President Hu Jintao.

 

The deal does not include any new jet orders.

 

All of the airplanes in the sale were announced and booked by Boeing as firm orders over the past four years. Chinese airlines had already paid nonrefundable deposits and signed contracts for the jets, most of them as far back as 2007.

 

That explains why Boeing have made such a big thing about an order for 2 777-300ER's from American Airlines

 

American orders two Boeing 777-300ERs

By

 

American Airlines has firmed up options on two Boeing 777-300ERs to support international growth.

 

The aircraft will be delivered in late 2012.

 

American's existing fleet of Boeing 777-200ERs is powered by Rolls-Royce Trent 800 engines, but the newly-ordered 777-300ERs will be powered by General Electric GE90s.

 

Boeing Commercial Airplanes president Jim Albaugh says: "American is the first carrier in the US to order the 777-300ER. These new airplanes will complement their large fleet of 777-200ERs offering additional flexibility in serving the nonstop routes, while providing increased efficiency and reliability."

 

AMR president Tom Horton adds: "The seating capability of the aircraft will give us growth flexibility in slot-constrained airports and provide us with greater ability to serve new long-haul markets."

[BigDUSA 71]

Airbus expecting busy year for A380 order talks

 

 

 

No doubt Scallywally will call this a biased article!!!

 

Certainly seems to have a lot of should, could, firm up order and pricing problems in this article.

[BigDUSA 71]

'Immature' technology behind 787 delay

Published: 23/01/2011 at 08:08 PM BKK Post

Online news: Aviation

 

Boeing said on Sunday that the use of "immature'' technology caused delays in the delivery of its 787 Dreamliner passenjer jet, a project almost three years behind schedule.

 

"Some of the technology was not as mature as it should have been and we put a global supply chain together without thinking through some of the consequences,'' Jim Albaugh, president and chief executive of Boeing Commercial Airplanes, said at a forum in the Saudi capital.

 

"When you put immature technology in your supply chain and don't supply adequate oversight, you have issues and that is what we had,'' he added at the annual Global Competitiveness Forum.

 

But he expressed confidence in the aircraft even if production is nearly three years behind schedule.

 

"It is going to be a magnificent airplane and will be 20 percent more efficient than the airplanes it is replacing,'' he said.

 

Boeing said last week it would delay the delivery of its first 787 unit from February to the third quarter of 2011.

 

The postponement came after a string of technical mishaps and delays slowed the testing programme for the jets, heralded as a new generation of highly fuel-efficient, mid-sized aircraft.

 

The company has encountered numerous difficulties in bringing the plane to market due to a new engineering strategy that uses composite materials and integrates production from several international sites.

 

An electrical fire during a test flight in November forced an emergency landing and ground Dreamliner tests to a halt.

 

But these resumed in December after the company said it had updated the power systems software and conducted rigorous reviews to confirm flight readiness.

QUOTE

[jacko 8,813]

'Immature' technology behind 787 delay

Published: 23/01/2011 at 08:08 PM BKK Post

Online news: Aviation

 

Boeing said on Sunday that the use of "immature'' technology caused delays in the delivery of its 787 Dreamliner passenjer jet, a project almost three years behind schedule.

 

"Some of the technology was not as mature as it should have been and we put a global supply chain together without thinking through some of the consequences,'' Jim Albaugh, president and chief executive of Boeing Commercial Airplanes, said at a forum in the Saudi capital.

 

"When you put immature technology in your supply chain and don't supply adequate oversight, you have issues and that is what we had,'' he added at the annual Global Competitiveness Forum.

 

But he expressed confidence in the aircraft even if production is nearly three years behind schedule.

 

"It is going to be a magnificent airplane and will be 20 percent more efficient than the airplanes it is replacing,'' he said.

 

Boeing said last week it would delay the delivery of its first 787 unit from February to the third quarter of 2011.

 

The postponement came after a string of technical mishaps and delays slowed the testing programme for the jets, heralded as a new generation of highly fuel-efficient, mid-sized aircraft.

 

The company has encountered numerous difficulties in bringing the plane to market due to a new engineering strategy that uses composite materials and integrates production from several international sites.

 

An electrical fire during a test flight in November forced an emergency landing and ground Dreamliner tests to a halt.

 

But these resumed in December after the company said it had updated the power systems software and conducted rigorous reviews to confirm flight readiness.

QUOTE

So poorly designed, no quality control and naive engineering.....

[BigDUSA 71]

So poorly designed, no quality control and naive engineering.....

 

After three long years, I find it hard to disagree with your assessment.

[CheshireTom 1,377]

So poorly designed, no quality control and naive engineering.....

 

Maybe they were concentrating too much on trying to cosh the opposition. I find it interesting that one of the biggest arguments against the A380 was that it was only suitable for hub-to-hub operations. It's early days yet, but the Emirates experience at Manchester (so far) seems to be making a bit of a nonsense of that particular argument.