Finally! Boeing confirms 787 deliveries from Aug/Sep

[Saab34]

About time! Looks like quite a few operators might have them by the years end.

Boeing to Deliver First 787 as Soon as August

Boeing Co. (BA) will deliver the first 787 plane to initial customer All Nippon Airways Co. in August or September, ending more than three years of delays for the new aircraft.
The planemaker and ANA will conduct test flights in Japan in the week beginning July 4 ahead of the handover, they said in a joint statement in Tokyo today. The flights will include trips from Tokyo’s Haneda airport to Itami and Kansai airports in Osaka, and to airports in Okayama and Hiroshima.
Boeing has pledged to deliver as many as 20 Dreamliners this year after the first handover was delayed seven times by the use of new materials, engine-supply disruptions and other problems. Tokyo-based ANA, Asia’s largest listed carrier by sales, has started training pilots to fly the new planes that will help it cut fuel usage and boost services.
“The plane will allow us to fly to places we couldn’t have with similar models,” President Shinichiro Ito told reporters today in Tokyo. “We aim to start flights to Europe and the U.S. by the end of March.”
ANA has ordered 55 Dreamliners, making it the biggest airline customer for the plane. The 787-9 can fly as far as 8,500 nautical miles (15,740 kilometers), compared with 5,625 nautical miles for the Boeing 767-400ER, according to the planemaker’s website.
The carrier’s order for 50 aircraft in 2004 was worth about $6 billion at list prices. Japan Airlines Co. has ordered 35.
Boeing gained 1 percent to $76.32 yesterday in New York trading. It’s risen 17 percent this year. ANA rose 0.4 percent to 238 yen as of the 3 p.m. close of trade in Tokyo today. It has fallen 21 percent this year.
ANA aims to add 16 percent more international flights in the year started April 1, after forecasting a 15 percent increase in overseas flights a year earlier. The carrier is boosting flights to cities including Shanghai and Beijing, helped by the opening of an international terminal at Haneda Airport last year.
Boeing to Deliver First 787 as Soon as August - Bloomberg

 

[UP4014]

Good news Boeing, hope they have it right.

 

[gumpy]

YAY... though I'll only believe once the deliveries are actually made... =)

Hope QF get these planes on the SYD to DFW route quick smart to stop all this stop over silliness. They will use it for this flight right?

 

[JohnPhelan]

YAY... though I'll only believe once the deliveries are actually made... =)

Hope QF get these planes on the SYD to DFW route quick smart to stop all this stop over silliness. They will use it for this flight right?

Hope it will still be routed DFW-BNE on the return though .... not everything has to go through SYD, and SYD is already well-served by QF flights from the US.

 

[Nigelinoz]

Hope QF get these planes on the SYD to DFW route quick smart to stop all this stop over silliness. They will use it for this flight right?

I was under the impression that the first QF group 787's were going to Jetstar,has this changed recently?
Cheers
N'oz

 

[NM]

Hope QF get these planes on the SYD to DFW route quick smart to stop all this stop over silliness. They will use it for this flight right?

You won't see any QF coloured 787 until the 787-9 is delivered (current plan is for initial 787-8s to go to JetStar). Also note its the 787-9 that is slated to have the longer range. The 787-8 will be very similar range to 747-400ER. The 878-9 has not been built yet, so don't be holding your breath for it for any QF routes.

 

[pauly7]

I was under the impression that the first QF group 787's were going to Jetstar,has this changed recently?
Cheers
N'oz

There is actually a special working committee on this ATM.... We may see a few surprises!!

 

[gumpy]

You won't see any QF coloured 787 until the 787-9 is delivered (current plan is for initial 787-8s to go to JetStar). Also note its the 787-9 that is slated to have the longer range. The 787-8 will be very similar range to 747-400ER. The 878-9 has not been built yet, so don't be holding your breath for it for any QF routes.

you've basically punched the wind out of me with that statement... Definitely cannot hold my breath now...

Well i guess it's good that once QF get the 787 it'd be tried and tested so hopefully A380 incidents can be avoided...

 

[kamchatsky]

Hmmmm ..... Maybe I will believe it when I actually see a 787 actually doing a commercial operation.

 

[codash1099]

Hmmmm ..... Maybe I will believe it when I actually see a 787 actually doing a commercial operation.

Sooner or later, one of their predictions HAS to be right!

 

[Nigelinoz]

We recently accomplished another meaningful milestone in the lead up to 787 first delivery. The first pilots from launch customer ANA have completed training at the Seattle Flight Services campus.

There are a couple of very cool things about this. First, it means that these 10 pilots - senior ANA training pilots and check airmen - now go back to Japan and ANA to conduct simulator and airplane line training for more flight crews. These trailblazing pilots will also be the first to captain 787 commercial flights for ANA.
The other significant point is that at the conclusion of their training in Seattle, each of the pilots in turn took the left seat on the 787 airplane ZA001 in maneuvers over Washington state - flights that our Boeing instructors tell me went extremely well and really validated how effective our training and simulators are at replicating the actual flying experience.
So I wanted to congratulate these initial - and now JCAB-qualified - pilots. They are proudly ANA’s “number one crew” as we get closer to delivering the Dreamliner to our first customer.
Posted on 07 June 2011

http://boeingblogs.com/randy/

 

[Nigelinoz]

You know after all the delays with the 787 I am finally starting to get excited about it,and I can't help it when watching footage like this of ZA001 taking off at Paine Field on Friday,great vision and even has coughpit audio as well.
YouTube - ‪787 Takeoff‬‏
Cheers
N'oz

 

[mcdumagic]

I will not fly on any 787 until it has been in service for some time. That fire that erupted under the floor near the wing fuel tanks took out all the pilots screens and most of the electrical systems on an "all electric" aircraft. They were only lucky it was a clear day and they were on final approach and were able to shut everything down quickly.

If it was over the pacific, it would be several hundred people dead.

Besides, the 787 is supposed to be 6-7 tonnes overweight, doubt it will be flying any real long distances until that is sorted out.

 

[shambles]

:mrgreen:

 

[straitman]

I will not fly on any 787 until it has been in service for some time. That fire that erupted under the floor near the wing fuel tanks took out all the pilots screens and most of the electrical systems on an "all electric" aircraft. They were only lucky it was a clear day and they were on final approach and were able to shut everything down quickly.

If it was over the pacific, it would be several hundred people dead.

How long is sometime? This type of scenario is likely to occur with any ne aircraft.

Besides, the 787 is supposed to be 6-7 tonnes overweight, doubt it will be flying any real long distances until that is sorted out.

If this is true it is about 3% of it's MAUW which is not much in the big picture. Where has the 6-7 tonne figure come from?

I realise that Wiki has its limitations but look at this:

Weight issues

While Boeing had been working to trim excess weight since assembly of the first airframe began, common for new aircraft in development, the company has stated that the first six 787s will be overweight,[SUP][169][/SUP] with the first aircraft expected to be 5,000 lb (2,270 kg) heavier than specified. The seventh and subsequent aircraft will be the first optimized 787s and are expected to meet all goals, with Boeing working on weight reductions.[SUP][170][/SUP]

Boeing expects to have the weight issues addressed by the 21st production model.[SUP][176][/SUP]

 

[mcdumagic]

Should make a new slogan, "If it is a 787, I aint Going"

How long is sometime?

Years. I will not book a ticket on a 787. If the airline changes equipment, I will get a refund.

This type of scenario is likely to occur with any ne aircraft.

Such a serious fire has never happened before in flight testing. The aircraft was close to certification when that happened, no one knew that this silent killer was even there, they had to go back and redesign the main electrical switchboards. The FAA pulled the 787 ETOPS certification after that accident as well.

Boeing has lost the plot on the 787, they hardly make any of it, they have very little control over how it is made. It may have had the final assembly by Boeing, but millions of smaller parts where are just are critical have been made, in some cases by companies that have never made an aircraft part before. One of the suppliers on the 787 only used to make snowboards before that started making composite wing parts for the 787.

I think the 787 is this centuries version of the de Havilland DH 106 Comet, a radical aircraft at the time, and was only fixed after a lot of passengers died.
Boeing does not understand this aircraft, they have never built anything like this, with such a mixed up supply chain ever before.

Besides, the 787 is supposed to be 6-7 tonnes overweight, doubt it will be flying any real long distances until that is sorted out.

That is empty weight, i.e. 60-70 passengers, or two-three hours of fuel. A number of airlines have either cancelled their 787-8 or changed them over the 787-9 as they can no longer make money off the 787-8 long haul.

E.g. this is what Vietnam Airlines was quoted in the press

""The -8 doesn't meet the performance guarantee as they told me," Minh told Flightglobal on the sidelines of this week's SkyTeam meeting in New York. "We found the -8 is a heavy -8; it's not the original -8 they committed to.""

This is what Bernstein Research says about the 787 weight

" Bernstein's report said it understood from customers and supplier discussions that the first production 787s are likely to be roughly 8% overweight, with range 10%-15% less than promised, which translated into a range near 6,900 nm., well below the promised 7,700-8,200 nm. range. "

 

[gumpy]

yeah i'm a bit worried about the 787... omens haven't been good from the beginning... how does a company get quality control over so many components from so many suppliers...

I'll wait for at least 1 year of 787 flights before I set foot on one...

 

[pauly7]

you've basically punched the wind out of me with that statement... Definitely cannot hold my breath now...

You never know, things change... That was certainly the original plan.

 

[david-au-2000]

Can't wait to fly on one of these but last I heard it was going to be a long time away at least on QF or JQ, not until end of next year and thats for Jetstar.

 

[Bundy Bear]

Can't wait to try out the 787, me thinking a trip to Japan in early September is the plan, I guess we will know more after the tests in early July.

ANA's first long-haul Boeing 787 cabin.

YouTube - ‪Welcome to ANA's First Long-Haul Boeing 787 Dreamliner.‬‏

And a photo on the cabin layout

ANA's beautiful new interior for their first 787 Dreamliner | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

And the actual test schedule.

Schedule updated on June 24

Jul 03 2011
SEA 0500 - HND 0630+1

Jul 05 2011
HND 0625 - ITM 0730 *
ITM 1130 - HND 1230

Jul 06 2011
HND 06:25 - KIX0800 *
KIX 1200 – HND 1330

Jul 07 2011
HND 0600 – OKJ 0730
OKJ 1145 - HND 1315 *
HND 1500 – HIJ 1700
HIJ 1900 - HND 2010 *

JUL 09 2011
HND 1300 – SEA 0630

* New schedule

As it is noted on the website, the schedules are subject to change. No passengers will be on board.

Taken from Flyertalk.



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I seem to remember that phrase; from the not too distant past.