Boeing now estimates that first flight of the 787 will happen sometime between mid-November and mid-December–at least three months later than originally planned–due to delays in coding flight-control software and completion of so-called “traveled work”–tasks originally meant for partners but passed on to Boeing’s final assembly facility in Everett, Wash. Speaking yesterday during the company’s latest formal briefing on the program, Boeing executive vice president and Commercial Airplanes CEO Scott Carson said that the revised schedules still supports plans to deliver the first production airplane to All Nippon Airways in May, but that the delay means “added risk for sure.”
Program manager Mike Bair elaborated on the nature of the risk in fairly unambiguous terms. “The real issue is if we have some discovery in the flight-test program that causes us to have to go back and do some sort of redesign or rework of the airplane,” said Bair. “We’re rapidly running out of time to be able to deal with anything big.”
