FAA And EASA Set To Clear The New Airliner For Service

The buzz around the Puget Sound region is that the FAA and EASA will announce Friday that the Boeing Dreamliner is  a certified airplane, clearing the way for entry into service with ANA later this year. The first airplane is expected to be delivered to the Japanese customer in September.

Photo By Ed Booth

Boeing wrapped up flight testing on the 787 on Saturday, August 13th. The test program went on longer than expected ... sort of a theme with the Dreamliner ... but a report in the Puget Sound Business Journal indicated that the good news is that the FAA found no major flaws in the design or construction of the largely-composite aircraft. Even the well-documented electrical panel fire in November was traced back to a misplaced tool, and all that was required was a change in the panel design to prevent a similar accident from happening on a production airplane.

After Certification, Boeing shifts into production mode on the Dreamliner, with the first airplane slated for delivery to launch customer ANA late next month. The carrier plans to start flying paying customers on the new airplane with special VIP flights in October, with the first regularly-scheduled domestic service coming in November ind international flights in December.

Boeing says it will be rolling 10 Dreamliners a month off the production lines by late 2013, but there are still labor issues hanging over the new South Carolina assembly facility that have to be resolved. Analysts say that Boeing will have to sell 1,000 of the new airliners before it starts to see a profit on the company's investment. There are currently just over 800 Dreamliners on Boeing's order books.

FMI: www.boeing.com