Boeing will delay first flight of the 787, this time by as much as six more months, as it continues to grapple with slower-than-expected completion of work originally meant for suppliers, the company said today. It now expects to fly the first airplane some time during this year’s fourth quarter–at least 14 months later than originally planned. Last scheduled for the end of the second quarter, the delayed first flight will force Boeing to move first delivery to the third quarter of 2009 and cut delivery total to just 25 airplanes next year.
Strained relationships between Boeing and its 787 customers originally scheduled to take deliveries this year will only turn tenser, and less lucrative, as airlines ask for more monetary compensation. The original six-month delay cost Boeing a projected $3.5 billion in 2008 revenue, the company said last October, when it announced a shift in delivery of 35 airplanes from this year to next. Now, instead of delivering 109 airplanes in 2009, it plans to ship even fewer than the 35 that migrated from the 2008 schedule.
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