Production of Boeing 787 Dreamliner Delayed Again

Hugh Pickens writes "Boeing has discovered microscopic wrinkles in the skin of the 787's fuselage and has ordered Italian supplier Alenia Aeronautica to halt production of fuselage sections at a factory in Italy. 'In two areas on the fuselage, the structure doesn't have the long-term strength that we want,' says Boeing spokeswoman Lori Gunter. To repair the wrinkles, additional layers of carbon composite material are being added to a 787 at the South Carolina factory and twenty-two other planes must also be patched. Production of the 787 has been fraught with problems with ill-fitting parts, casting doubt on Boeing's strategy of relying on overseas suppliers to build big sections of the aircraft before assembling them at its facilities near Seattle. The 787, built for fuel efficiency from lightweight carbon composite parts, is a priority for Boeing as it struggles with dwindling orders amid the global recession. Customers had been expecting the first of the new jets in the first quarter of 2010 — nearly two years earlier than they will be delivered. The delays have cost Boeing credibility and billions of dollars in anticipated expenses and penalties. Orders for 72 planes have been canceled already this year, although Boeing still has confirmed orders for over 800 aircraft."

Comments

And somewhere across the pond...

[Titoxd]

... an EADS executive is laughing with glee...

At least it wasn't pro-Airbus

[gizmo_mathboy]

This Youtube video was sent to me from a friend that works at Boeing (not in the commercial division). About sums things up.

Re:Would this be the place

[multisync]

where I point out that maybe if they'd kept those jobs in the United States instead of tying to save a few pennies or getting a contract or two from a state airline that the parts might actually work right the first time.

Who knows, but you don't have to be Alanis Morissette to see the irony of an Italian plant making fuselages for Boeing, and a Seattle coffee company wanting to sell me something called a "grandee latte."

Re:It's hard at the bleeding edge.

[Jeff DeMaagd]

I'm not sure, but it seemed like it might have been a sarcastic comment.

Label it Beta!

[Anonymous Coward]

They should just do what we do in software. Slap a beta label on it and ship it out the door. Then act condescending when someone complains that their plane crashed.

Production of Story

[starrsoft]

I "discovered found" a mistake; production of this story should have been delayed because of microscopic wrinkles in the sentence structure.

Re:"Boeing has discovered found microscopic wrinkl

[codewritinfool]

With Boetox?

Re:Would this be the place

[Dragonslicer]

The Big Dig numbers you quote are rather distorted by inflation and included interest costs.

I think the fact that you have to adjust for inflation is a good indication that something went wrong.

Re:A few words...

[jnork]

Please! Don't cloud the issue with facts!