Aircraft
787 is making ‘steady progress,’ Boeing assures
Reportedly rising at 4 a.m.

Reportedly rising at 4 a.m. to work a 16-hour day at Boeing Commercial Airplanes division’s Everett plant in northwest U.S., Boeing 787 program vice president and general manager Pat Shanahan has been “a little busy.” Accordingly, the biggest question at Farnborough International– from those used to seeing him only at the factory–has been, “What are you doing here?”

Charged with rescuing the troubled twin-aisle twinjet project, currently running about 15 months late, Shanahan is here to assure customers and aerospace industry partners alike about the program’s “leap forward on all fronts.” (Shanahan conceded he had not told the marketing department he would characterize the 787’s status so positively, which might explain why formal production-system briefing material records only “steady progress on getting up and running.”)