Points Finger At Alcoa, Others

A plane can't fly if it's in pieces... and Boeing is facing a dearth of permanent fasteners for its first 787. That's the word from Boeing CEO Jim McNerney, who pointed his finger at Alcoa Inc. and others Tuesday as reasons why the company had to postpone the first flight of the composite-bodied Dreamliner.

"The supply chain is just gradually catching up," McNerney (right) told investors during a teleconference, according to Reuters. "We are making progress -- it's still a scramble though, if I'm honest."

As ANN reported, Boeing announced last week the first 787 test flight would be postponed until mid-November -- or even later -- due to problems with assembly, and flight software systems integration. A shortage of permanent fasteners to hold segments of the plane's composite barrel-section fuselage is considered the main problem facing Boeing, however.

Suppliers may not be entirely to blame for the shortage... as the industry as a whole is still struggling to return to pre-9/11 production levels. Boeing wasn't caught unaware of a problem, either... as the planemaker said in March a shortage of the critical parts was looming.

McNerney conceded many didn't anticipate the growth seen in the commercial airliner market over the past few years. He did imply, however, that many companies could have done a better job of ramping up their operations.

"You know the root cause here -- the fastener industry got consolidated, post 9/11," said McNerney. "The consolidators misjudged the demand swingback -- a lot of us misjudged the demand swingback -- post 9/11."

Alcoa is the main supplier of aluminum and titanium fasteners for the 787; the planemaker hasn't publicly identified other companies, if any, supplying those parts for the program.

A spokesman for Alcoa says the company is doing all it can to catch up. "We are working with them (Boeing) to try to get them as many fasteners as we possibly can for this program," said Kevin Lowery. "Every day we are getting them more and more -- we are making great progress."

Boeing used temporary fasteners to assemble the first 787 in time to unveil during a July 8 ceremony. The aircraft was little more than an empty shell at that point, lacking many internal systems. Engineers are still working at pulling out those temp bolts, and replacing them with permanent fasteners.

"We have a lot of temporary fasteners in that first airplane, that are now being reworked," McNerney said. "The supply chain is just gradually catching up."

He defended Boeing's assertion that despite the delay in first flight -- termed a "stutter-step" by McNerney -- the planemaker will still be able to fully test and certify the Dreamliner in time for its planned May 2008 entry-into-service with All Nippon Airways.

"It's an aggressive plan, but it has substance to it," he said.

FMI: www.boeing.com, www.alcoa.com