Though Delays Will Require "Aggressive" Cert Program

The Dreamliner will deliver on-time. That's the word from Boeing, which on Monday reasserted its commitment to a May 2008 entry-into-service date for the upcoming composite-bodied airliner, despite growing delays in the program.

"It is still our objective to meet that May 2008 delivery but in doing that we have had to compress our flight-test schedule," said Boeing Commercial Airplanes VP Randy Tinseth to Reuters. "It is an aggressive schedule but we believe we can do it."

Even "Herculean" may not be a strong-enough term to describe the task before Boeing.

As ANN reported, flight of the first Boeing 787 prototype -- originally intended for August -- likely won't occur until mid-November at the earliest, due to supply issues with the specialized fasteners used to join the fuselage "barrel" sections, and headaches involving systems integration on the original plane.

Assembly on the next four planes to be used in the flight test program continues. Boeing will use six airframes in all, to accumulate the needed 1,300 flight hours and 3,700 ground-test hours needed for certification over six months, according to Tinseth, who spoke during a visit to Australia.

The first 787-8 is due to be delivered to All Nippon Airways.

FMI: www.boeing.com