Latest 747 Embodies Ongoing Challenges for Boeing | Aviation International News

Latest 747 Embodies Ongoing Challenges for Boeing

At Boeing’s colossal plant in Everett, Wash., the February 13 gathering of some 10,000 employees, government officials and customer, partner and supplier r

Thousands of well-wishers gathered in Everett, Wash., during the February 13 unveiling of the Boeing 747-8 Intercontinental. [Photo: Boeing]

By Mark Huber • Contributor

February 25, 2011

At Boeing’s colossal plant in Everett, Wash., the February 13 gathering of some 10,000 employees, government officials and customer, partner and supplier reps served not only as a chance to celebrate a long-overdue “unveiling” of the 747-8 Intercontinental, but as a reminder of a painful legacy left by top management a decade or more ago. Of course, both the 747-8I and the new 787 Dreamliner have fallen well behind schedule–by some 18 months and three-and-a-half years, respectively–as the company struggles to combat the effects of early retirement buyouts of legions of senior engineers and the design/build outsourcing scheme for major components on the 787.

The problems with the 787 spilled over to the two new 747-8 programs, the Intercontinental and the 747-8F freighter, in a couple of ways. Boeing “borrowed” engineers working on the new 747 to speed development of the 787 program and the company’s plans to incorporate Dreamliner technology into the new 747 fell behind schedule.

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