Australian Airline Still Has 50 Dreamliners On Order

Qantas Chief Executive Alan Joyce said this week he has been told by Boeing that the troubled 787 Dreamliner will fly this year, despite problems with delamination in the wing area and new problems with the composite skin in the fuselage sections being built in Italy.

The newspaper "The Australian" reports that Joyce was told by Boeing these latest problems were not expected to extend delays of the aircraft, which is already two years behind schedule.

"One of the reasons why we delayed and cancelled some of the aircraft was to ensure that we had enough time to plan and manage the introduction of the aircraft without having this uncertainty around when the aircraft could be here," Joyce said.

Qantas still has some 50 of the all-composite aircraft on order, one of Boeing's biggest customers for the Dreamliner. Boeing says a simple patch it has already designed will remedy the problems with the fuselage. It is still working on the delamination issues where the wings join the fuselage that cropped up during ground stress tests last month.

FMI: www.qantas.com, www.boeing.com