Boeing delays initial deliveries of 787s by 6 months

Boeing Co. said Wednesday it is delaying initial deliveries of the 787 Dreamliner by six months, citing continued challenges in completing assembly of the first airplanes.

The Chicago-based aircraft manufacturer had planned to deliver the popular aircraft from next May, starting with those to All Nippon Airways.

''Deliveries of the strong-selling Dreamliner are now slated to begin in late November or December 2008, versus an original target of May 2008,'' the company said in a press release. ''First flight is now anticipated around the end of first quarter 2008.''

The company also said the financial impact of the delay would not be material to earnings and that its earnings guidance for 2007 and 2008 remained unchanged.

''We are disappointed over the schedule changes that we are announcing today,'' Boeing Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer Jim McNerney said in a statement. ''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.''

Early last month, Boeing announced a delay in the planned first flight of the 787 citing ongoing challenges with out-of-sequence production work, including parts shortages, and remaining software and systems integration activities.

The company also acknowledged increasing risk to the delivery schedule, indicating that the margin to accommodate unexpected issues had been eliminated.

The newly revised schedule for first flight and first delivery addresses the production challenges and restores margin for the program to deal with issues that may be uncovered in final ground or flight testing. Boeing also said that flight control software and systems integration activities are not pacing items in the revised schedule for first flight.

''While we have made some progress over the past several weeks completing work on our early production airplanes and improving parts availability across the production system, the pace of that progress has not been sufficient to support our previous plans for first delivery or first flight,'' said Scott Carson, president and CEO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes. ''We deeply regret the impact these delays will have on our customers, and we are committed to working with them to minimize any disruption to their plans.