May Impact 777F Flight Testing, 747-8 Development

American planemaker Boeing flatly denies the six-month delay in flight testing and deliveries of its new 787 Dreamliner will impact other aircraft now under development... but others aren't so sure.

According to the Leeham Company consulting group, customers for the upcoming 777 Freighter and 747-8 are growing concerned the planes they're waiting for will also be delayed, as engineers for both programs are pulled to assist with bringing the Dreamliner back on schedule. 747-8 customers are also watching delays in the Dreamliner's first flight carefully, as the two planes share the same GEnx turbofan.

The 777 Freighter is scheduled for delivery in Q3 2008; first flights were scheduled to begin after the first Dreamliners started certification testing. The freighter variant of the 747-8 is scheduled for delivery in September 2009, with passenger planes soon following.

When asked to confirm or deny the reports, Boeing told Leeham.net both programs remain on schedule.

"With respect to your request for comment about possible impact to or delay of the 777 Freighter and 747-8 programs due to the schedule slide for the 787 program, we have the following responses," Boeing replied. "Despite the 787 schedule change, we remain on track for our first delivery of the 777 Freighter in the fourth quarter of 2008; Likewise, the 747-8 Freighter remains on schedule to deliver in late 2009."

An unidentified 747-8F customer told the consulting group they're uneasy.

"Whether I’m justifiably concerned, I don’t know yet," the customer says, noting all three programs share many of the same resources. "We’re still talking about not insignificant work on systems and everything that I’ve heard is this is still a large issue."

FMI: www.boeing.com, www.leeham.net