Yet Another Disappointment For The Dawdling Dreamliner

The first Boeing 787 Dreamliner for Russian carrier Aeroflot won't touch down in the country until 2016 at the earliest, according to an announcement from Aeroflot last week reported by Reuters. The expected 28-month delay for Aeroflot is yet another result of the string of delays that have kept the airliner from first flight.

As reported by ANN, Boeing announced its latest delays in April, citing changes to the airplane and problems with suppliers as the cause. Customer response continues to grow increasingly impatient for the manufacturer, as Boeing works stridently to accomplish power-on of the first 787 later this month.

In fact, original Boeing production plans for the airliner planned to hand over the first 787 to Japan's All Nippon Airways this month -- a far cry from the now projected first delivery in the third quarter of 2009.

On average, subsequent deliveries have been pushed back 20 months. But Aeroflot's general director Valery Okulov told reporters the Russian airline expects its delivery to take even longer than average. "We have received official notification, the delay is 28 months," he said to Reuters.

Some of that delay can be attributed to Aeroflot's own dawdling, as well. Aeroflot's 22-plane order in September 2007 was the end to an odd chain of events, starting with an original order earlier in the year being cancelled by the airline -- victim to mounting tensions between the US and Russia over foreign policy differences.

That news was followed by Aeroflot signing of a Memorandum of Understanding for 22 A350 XWBs, the Airbus competitor for the 787. Many thought the Boeing deal was lost at that point... until Aeroflot announced in June it would, after all, order an equal number of Dreamliners.

Boeing currently claims 857 net orders for the plane, debuted in a flashy ceremony on July 8, 2007.

FMI: www.boeing.com, www.aeroflot.com