Aircraft
Boeing hopes for happy end to 787 schedule nightmare
More than a year after predicting at last year’s Paris Airshow that the new 787 twin-aisle twinjet would fly within three months, Boeing is no closer to ac

More than a year after predicting at last year’s Paris Airshow that the new 787 twin-aisle twinjet would fly within three months, Boeing is no closer to achieving that important milestone. After three acknowledged delays, Boeing now expects the airplane to fly in the fourth quarter of this year.

The U.S. manufacturer also appears to have provided more time for flight testing and certification before first delivery. Originally expected to take no more than seven months (from late August 2007 to May 2008), a particularly ambitious timeframe given the major changes Boeing made to its conventional aircraft development process, the schedule now allows up to a year–potentially from October 1 until September 30, 2009–to achieve airworthiness approval.