Airbus and Boeing products running behind schedule

[wacmedia 277]

Hi,

 

Any minor problems Airbus might have with the 350 are being relieved by the catastophic delays of the Nightmareliner. EADS/AIRBUS are lucky in that respect.

[bigdelta 46]

Continental Unveils Boeing 787 Dreamliner at NBTA-Providing a new era in passenger comfort

 

HOUSTON, Aug. 9 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Continental Airlines (NYSE:CAL - News) is offering a sneak preview of its Boeing 787 aircraft interior today at the 2010 National Business Travel Association (NBTA) International Convention & Expo, giving customers a glimpse of what's ahead for air travel in the future. The 787 Dreamliner is making headlines for its revolutionary cabin environment and advanced aerodynamic design, allowing it to fly farther, faster and more efficiently. Continental will be the first U.S. carrier to take delivery of the new 787 Dreamliner beginning next year.

 

"Continental is excited to unveil the Boeing 787 Dreamliner to some of our best customers," said Dave Hilfman, Continental's senior vice president of worldwide sales. "The Dreamliner's unrivaled customer experience and superior economic performance will change the future of travel."

 

Customer Comforts

 

The 787 Dreamliner's revolutionary cabin environment will help Continental customers feel better during and after a long flight:

 

 

•Lower cabin altitude: Lowering the cabin altitude to 6,000 feet reduces the adverse physical effects of pressurization on customers.

•Increased luggage storage: The overhead storage bins are the largest in the industry, allowing space for every passenger to fit a standard-size carry-on bag in the bin above.

•More space and freedom: Architectural design elements such as sweeping arches and more natural light create a feeling of spaciousness.

•Larger windows: The 787 windows are the largest on any of today's airplanes, giving passengers a view to the horizon from any seat on the plane. Rather than pull-down window shades, electrochromatic shades give passengers the ability to dim the window and still enjoy the passing terrain.

•Simulated cabin sky: The cabin ceiling is illuminated by ambient LEDs that create a sense of the sky overhead. The flight crew, able to control the brightness and color of the cabin sky, can give passengers a sense of daylight when desired or help passengers rest by simulating a night sky.

•Cleaner, less dry cabin air: Innovative air purification systems maintain cleaner cabin air, and the air system allows for higher cabin humidity levels to combat the effects of dryness on passenger comfort levels.

•Sound quality: The 787 improvements lower noise both inside and outside the cabin. Less cabin noise equates to reduced passenger fatigue, while decreased engine noise creates significantly quieter takeoffs and landings, improving the experience for airport communities and employee ground crews.

 

 

 

 

Superior Economic Performance

 

With expanded range capabilities, unmatched fuel efficiency and superior operating economics, the 787s will allow Continental to target additional long-haul markets or replace older, less-efficient widebody aircraft. Constructed mainly of lightweight, carbon-fiber composite materials, the Dreamliner is aerodynamically refined to minimize drag and maximize speed. This, combined with the aircraft's reduced weight, allows the 787 to fly farther using 20 percent less fuel and emitting 20 percent less carbon dioxide than similarly sized airplanes.

 

Continental's Dreamliner Order

 

Continental has firm orders for 25 Dreamliners with delivery scheduled beginning third quarter 2011. The aircraft will have 228 seats, including 36 of Continental's new flat-bed BusinessFirst seats for the best rest on long-distance flights.

 

New Long-Haul Route Opportunities

 

Continental was the first airline in the world to announce new route plans for its 787 fleet. The company plans to begin nonstop Boeing 787 flights to Auckland, New Zealand, and Lagos,

 

Nigeria, from its Houston hub. Both routes are expected to start in Nov. 2011 and are subject to government approval.

 

"The 787 is an integral part of our international growth strategy," said Greg Hart, Continental's vice president of network strategy. "This next generation of aircraft positions Continental for new long-haul business opportunities—Auckland and Lagos are two great examples of global markets the 787 will enable us to reach."

 

Following display at the 2010 NBTA International Convention & Expo, Continental will exhibit the 787 mock-up fuselage at its Houston hub in Bush Intercontinental Airport's Terminal E.

[BigDUSA 71]

Boeing Co. said it’s reinspecting its fleet of 787 Dreamliner jets to ensure that the sections built by a unit of Italy’s Finmeccanica SpA meet the planemaker’s standards.

 

After uncovering flaws in horizontal stabilizers made by Alenia Aeronautica, Boeing assessed the company’s manufacturing process and decided to check on flight-test and production planes, Lori Gunter, a spokeswoman, said yesterday in an e-mail. The stabilizer is on the tail and keeps planes steady in flight.

 

“Based on what we’ve seen so far, we believe the inspections and any issues we find can be readily addressed,” Gunter said. “We are assessing the impact, if any, to our schedule.”

 

The Dreamliner’s entry into service may slide into 2011 from late 2010, in part because of stabilizer flaws, Boeing has said. The plane’s debut has been pushed back more than two years as Chicago-based Boeing struggles with new materials, parts shortages, redesign work and heavier reliance on suppliers.

 

Jim Albaugh, president of Boeing’s commercial plane business, told analysts yesterday that the company had found some additional Dreamliner issues and that in the future it may take back more of the work now done by vendors.

 

Boeing created a new supplier-driven production system for the 787 that relies on partners around the world building sections to be snapped together at the planemaker’s Everett, Washington, factory.

 

Tighter Control

 

Boeing is “really happy” that it bought Dreamliner operations in South Carolina from Alenia and Vought Aircraft Industries Inc. last year, Albaugh said at a Jefferies & Co. presentation broadcast online from New York.

 

“Those are areas where we’ve had issues, those are areas that we now control and those are areas that we’re fixing,” Albaugh said of those factories. “I wouldn’t rule out at some point that we’d take over work that is now outside.”

 

Alenia, a unit of Rome-based Finmeccanica that makes 14 percent of the Dreamliner’s carbon-fiber fuselage, was blamed by Boeing for flaws in the horizontal stabilizer. Last year, Boeing temporarily stopped production after finding wrinkles in the vendor’s composite fuselage sections. Alenia and Finmeccanica said the problems have been fixed.

 

The Italian company has negotiated pricing for the first 200 of an order for 300 Dreamliner section shipments, while discussions about the rest have just started, Finmeccanica’s Co- General Manager Alessandro Pansa said on a July 29 conference call. Boeing has orders for 847 Dreamliners and aims to boost monthly production to 10 in 2013 from 2 now.

 

Boeing is flying five 787 test jets and expects the sixth to have its maiden flight later this month, Albaugh said. There have been more than two dozen Dreamliners built as the company awaits certification for passenger use.

 

Boeing fell 37 cents to $68.62 yesterday in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The shares have gained 27 percent this year.

 

To contact the reporters on this story: Susanna Ray in Seattle at sray7@bloomberg.net; Marco Bertacche in Milan at mbertacche@bloomberg.net.

QUOTE

[wacmedia 277]

Hi,

 

Well blow me! I saw film of the Nightmareliner flying and an interview with one of the test pilots. Although I trust my American cousins I am wondering is it a different plane in a 787 skin ?

[joekicker 53]

Looks like THAI has made a decision it's never made before, to go all-Airbus in the future. This is interesting:

 

From the Bangkok Post 16 Aug 2010

Talks begin for huge order

 

{Demand has been heavy for the A350XWB and deliveries may fall behind schedule.}

 

Thai Airways International has begun talks with Airbus on the possibility of acquiring up to 30 of the next-generation A350XWB jets and six additional A380 superjumbos.

 

THAI president Piyasvasti Amranand and Jean-Jacques Boissin, Airbus's Southeast Asia sales director, separately confirmed the discussions. If a sale materialises, it may represent the largest aircraft order in the 50-year history of the flag carrier.

 

The aircraft would cost US$9.12 billion on the open market, though Airbus tends to offer deep discounts to compete with US rival Boeing on major orders.

 

Airbus is pushing for orders of the new high-capacity jets as part of THAI's ongoing fleet renewal programme as it replaces ageing jets with planes that offer more advanced features and better fuel efficiency to appeal to customers.

 

According to a draft plan presented to THAI's board earlier, by 2026 the airline expects to have a fleet of 102 aircraft with an average age of 7.5 years.

Edited August 15, 2010 by joekicker

[CheshireTom 1,377]

From Leeham News ...

 

More 787 problems; 2Q delivery delay coming?

 

August 13, 2010

 

The news that Boeing has yet more industrial partner problems with the 787 doesn’t come as a surprise.

 

Pre-Farnborough Air Show, the company revealed that there were shim issues from its Italian partner, Alenia. Two weeks ago we learned that there were additional issues with the Alenia-produced horizontal stabilizers, where additional gaps were discovered and the need for more shims to be manufactured to fill additional gaps.

 

While we were trying to confirm this with Boeing, Boeing Commercial CEO Jim Albaugh generally revealed the issue at an investors’ conference, noting that additional inspections were necessary. Albaugh didn’t go into detail.

 

Guy Norris of Aviation Week has a more thorough description in this report, but Boeing didn’t provide details to him, either. A Boeing corporate communications official could not verify that our information that some 50 shims per ship set were involved to fix the issue.

 

We’ve been told that all airplanes produced to date are affected; Boeing told us only one, airplane 22, was affected and a fix was done overnight. Boeing added that spot checks would be done on other airplanes; Albaugh’s statement to the investor’s conference and Norris’ report the inspections indeed appear to involve all airplanes, and our original source sticks to the assertion that all airplanes are involved. The source anticipates that an additional delay beyond January 2011 for first delivery is likely.

 

Our source tells us that gaps were discovered between the stabilizers and the adjoining structure and that shims must be added to fix it. This is different than the June discovery that shims were installed incorrectly by Alenia.

 

“When we inspect one problem, we find another. We when inspect another problem, we find another,” this source says. “None of these are show-stoppers by themselves, but the cumulative effect” is almost certain to further delay deliveries, this source believes.

 

“It is unknown to what extent the latest inspections are affecting flight tests of the first five flyable 787s, two of which are currently down for maintenance,” Boeing said in a communication to employees.

[TheFiend 1,187]

From Leeham News ...

 

More 787 problems; 2Q delivery delay coming?

 

Our source tells us that gaps were discovered between the stabilizers and the adjoining structure and that shims must be added to fix it. This is different than the June discovery that shims were installed incorrectly by Alenia.

 

 

Shoddy Quality control again....

[bigdelta 46]

Shoddy Quality control again....

From a European company.

[TheFiend 1,187]

From a European company.

 

Shouldn't Boeing perform "Quality Inspections" before actually joining the assemblies together?

 

Yet again Boeing use the slippery shoulder technique to point the blame at somebody other than themselves.

[CheshireTom 1,377]

Shouldn't Boeing perform "Quality Inspections" before actually joining the assemblies together?

 

Yet again Boeing use the slippery shoulder technique to point the blame at somebody other than themselves.

 

I'm confused here. I thought Boeing had sorted the problem out more than two years ago.

 

 

Boeing learned not to relay on European suppliers that said they could do the work but couldn't. \

 

The Curse of Denny Strikes Again.

[wacmedia 277]

The Curse of Denny Strikes Again.

 

Hi,

 

You gotta love the guy.

[CheshireTom 1,377]

Hi,

 

You gotta love the guy.

 

LOL. I wouldn't put it quite as strong as that. I bet Lance Armstrong is having nightmares these days though.

[BigDUSA 71]

Boeing gets OK to start 787 pilot training courses

 

 

(AP:NEW YORK) Boeing Co. said Monday it's been given approval by the Federal Aviation Administration to start pilot training courses for its new 787.

 

The Chicago company called the approval a "significant milestone" as it ramps up to start flight training.

 

With the 787 pilot training courses, pilots can transition to the new airplane in five to 20 days, depending on experience. Boeing 777 pilots can qualify to fly the 787 in as little as five days, given the high level of similarity between the two airplane types.

 

The 787, which Boeing calls the Dreamliner, is made of many composite materials designed to make it lighter and more fuel-efficient than comparable planes already in the sky. Its development has been plagued by delays, and the first delivery is now scheduled for late this year to Japan's All Nippon Airways.

 

The Chicago-based company's most popular plane remains the workhorse 737.

 

There are currently five Boeing Training & Flight Services locations around the world in Tokyo, Singapore, Shanghai, Seattle and Gatwick, UK.

QUOTE

[CheshireTom 1,377]

As Custer would have said, "Blame it on the injuns" ....

 

Rolls-Royce Says 787 Engine Failed During Testing

By Howard Mustoe - Aug 18, 2010

 

Rolls-Royce Group Plc said a Trent 1000 engine built for Boeing Co.’s 787 Dreamliner failed during testing and that a probe into the incident has begun.

 

Rolls doesn’t anticipate that the failure on a test bed at its main manufacturing site in Derby, England, will have any impact on the development of the engine or the 787’s entry into service, company spokesman Craig Taylor said in an e-mail.

 

“We are now investigating in detail and have made good progress in understanding the issue,” Taylor said. He declined to comment on the nature of the incident.

 

The engine failure hasn’t affected the Dreamliner flight- test program “to date,” Lori Gunter, a spokeswoman for Chicago-based Boeing, said today in an e-mail. The company is “actively participating” in the investigation, she said.

[bigdelta 46]

As Custer would have said, "Blame it on the injuns" ....

 

Rolls-Royce Says 787 Engine Failed During Testing

By Howard Mustoe - Aug 18, 2010

 

Rolls-Royce Group Plc said a Trent 1000 engine built for Boeing Co.’s 787 Dreamliner failed during testing and that a probe into the incident has begun.

 

Rolls doesn’t anticipate that the failure on a test bed at its main manufacturing site in Derby, England, will have any impact on the development of the engine or the 787’s entry into service, company spokesman Craig Taylor said in an e-mail.

 

“We are now investigating in detail and have made good progress in understanding the issue,” Taylor said. He declined to comment on the nature of the incident.

 

The engine failure hasn’t affected the Dreamliner flight- test program “to date,” Lori Gunter, a spokeswoman for Chicago-based Boeing, said today in an e-mail. The company is “actively participating” in the investigation, she said.

Another European failure in the process................

First the Italians and now the Brits do their part.Does AirSubsidy have them on the payroll to sabotage the 787?

[TheFiend 1,187]

Another European failure in the process................

First the Italians and now the Brits do their part.Does AirSubsidy have them on the payroll to sabotage the 787?

 

The engine was on a test bed........... getting tested. Would you rather an engine fail on a test bed or in flight.

 

You obviously have little or no idea about testing.

 

Testing is not only used to ensure something works, but how long something will work for before failure - from these figures maintenance schedules can be planned.

[bigdelta 46]

The engine was on a test bed........... getting tested. Would you rather an engine fail on a test bed or in flight.

 

You obviously have little or no idea about testing.

 

Testing is not only used to ensure something works, but how long something will work for before failure - from these figures maintenance schedules can be planned.

Yes,you are correct.32 years in the airline industry and I'm clueless.But your post has nothing to do with my post at all.Did I say the engine was on an aircraft?No,I didn't.

See my avatar as a clue.

[wacmedia 277]

Another European failure in the process................

First the Italians and now the Brits do their part.Does AirSubsidy have them on the payroll to sabotage the 787?

 

 

Hi,

 

I think Boeing's overall management of the entire projects seems to be in question. Look in the mirror!

[TheFiend 1,187]

Yes,you are correct.32 years in the airline industry and I'm clueless.But your post has nothing to do with my post at all.Did I say the engine was on an aircraft?No,I didn't.

See my avatar as a clue.

 

Yes, you are clueless... clueless about engineering!

 

Your post was a dig at us Europeans and our engineering and manufacturers..

[bigdelta 46]

Yes, you are clueless... clueless about engineering!

 

Your post was a dig at us Europeans and our engineering and manufacturers..

Well at least 1 part of your reply is true-the 2nd sentence. indeed.

[CheshireTom 1,377]

Well at least 1 part of your reply is true-the 2nd sentence. indeed.

 

I agree. Those Italian wankers. It must be something in their genes.

[BigDUSA 71]

Hi,

 

I think Boeing's overall management of the entire projects seems to be in question. Look in the mirror!

 

At this point I have to agree. Boeing should have QA teams in the plants.

[wacmedia 277]

At this point I have to agree. Boeing should have QA teams in the plants.

 

Hi,

 

It's big of you to admit that.

[CheshireTom 1,377]

At this point I have to agree. Boeing should have QA teams in the plants.

 

When the sections for the test aircraft were built Boeing did have QA teams in the plant. Maybe the specs were wrong.

 

 

[bigdelta 46]

At this point I have to agree. Boeing should have QA teams in the plants.

I would assume the did but maybe they're asleep at the switch.

 

I agree. Those Italian wankers. It must be something in their genes.

God bless my Italian ancestors.