The eagerly anticipated Dreamliner airplane from Boeing (also known as the 787) won't be in service until sometime in 2009.
Test flights for the massive plane were delayed again until July, the second such delay for the Dreamliner. Deliveries won't happen until early 2009, meaning you won't fly one of these bad boys 'til mid-2009 at the earliest.
Production delays and parts shortages are mostly to blame for the push-back.
Boeing is building more than half of the plane with carbon- fiber composites instead of aluminum, making it the first airliner of its kind. The Dreamliner is also Boeing's first attempt at a production process where suppliers deliver fully completed wing and fuselage parts.
"Completing the first plane is setting the pace to first flight,'' 787 program manager Pat Shanahan said on the call.``If anything has been learned here, it's how long it will take to complete somebody else's work. We thought we could modify our final assembly system to accommodate suppliers' work. We were wrong.''
Meanwhile Airbus SAS has some company in the mega-airplane delays department. Their widebody A350 (an answer to the Dreamliner) won't deliver until 2013. But at least they still have the A380.
Singapore Airlines' first flight of the superjumbo A380 takes off in a little over two weeks, and Airbus must be chilling the champagne. After years of delays, controversy and throwing money down what seemed to be a bottomless pit, the aerospace company can now focus on selling these planes rather than building them.
In the meantime, Boeing is still struggling to get its 787 off the ground. After taking more than 800 orders, the firm has pushed the first deliveries back to late 2008. That said, airlines are still on board to use Boeing's new, high-tech jet, which has a range of over 10,000 miles and, perhaps more importantly, gets great gas mileage.
The revolution will be at 35,000 feet, if Boeing Dreamliner has anything to say about it. While we are taking a wait-for-the-August-test-flights approach to this whole 787 craze, there were plenty of airlines that thought Boeing's big bird and pony show was worth a multi-million dollar airplane order check.
Qantas, Air New Zealand, Virgin Atlantic, and All Nippon Airways, who will bet the first to offer 787 commercial service in May 2008 all bought what Boeing was selling.
The plane seats up to 330 passengers and is capable of flying long-haul routes using up to 20% less fuel.
Yesterday, on 7.8.07, Boening's new 787 Dreamliner debuted in Everett Washington in a scene that reminded us of the Emperor's arrival on the Death Star at the beginning of Return of the Jedi. Point being, it was definitely an odd scene. Don't believe us? Just watch the video above.
To date, Boeing has won 677 order for the 787, on deliveries through 2015. Air Berlin, Kuwait Airways, and All Nippon Airways are amongst the buyers.
The 787, Boeing's first all-new jet since airlines started flying the 777 in 1995, will be the world's first large commercial airplane made mostly of carbon-fiber composites, which are lighter, heftier, and don't rust as easily--sounds fair enough. .
The Dreamliner is scheduled to enter service in the spring of 2008 and the first test flights will take place in late August or early September of this year.
Boeing is sure in a good mood after the whole A380 delay debacle. The schadenfreude has got them so sauced up, they're keeping up their offer to pay your way through Seattle. Well, they'll pay for a bit of it.
On the first Thursday of every month, Boeing sponsors All Access Nights at the Experience Music project, when admission is free from 5-8 p.m. It's the perfect time to visit, because tickets are otherwise a whopping $19.95. Not a big surprise for this type of place, but a bummer nonetheless for those who just want to rock or whatever.
Permanent installations at the EMP include a Jimi Hendrix exhibit, the Sound Lab recording studio, and an experience called On Stage that'll let you play rock star and simulate the experience of playing an arena in front of thousands of fans. Hookers 'n' blow not included with freebie tickets.
