The company had halted 787 deliveries between November 2020 and August 2022 due to problems including an issue involving improper gaps between the type's composite fuselage sections. Boeing says it is inspecting 787s in its inventory and that affected jets will require rework, causing some delivery delays.
Boeing Dreamliner 787 deliveries delayed due to production flaw. Boeing faces another setback with the 787 Dreamliner due to a newly discovered production flaw. In a statement issued on June 6, 2023, the company warned that this could potentially delay the delivery of 90 jets currently in its inventory?.
The 787's latest problem mirrors production issues discovered over 2020 and 2021 that included improperly fitted shimming that led to paper-thin gaps between surfaces on the Dreamliner's fuselage.
With 150 firm orders, United has the largest Dreamliner orderbook on record and is positioned to become the largest 787 operator in the world. Today's announcement follows the airline's record-setting purchase of 100 787 airplanes last year.
While the rework of the fuselage flaws was occurring over the last year, Boeing lowered the 787 program's production rate to below five per month. The company reported 120 total undelivered 787 Dreamliners sitting in inventory during their July 27 second quarter 2022 earnings.
The defect is a small, paper-thin gap in the attachment, Boeing said. Such gaps are typically plugged using a filler known as a shim. The shims in the attachment were incorrectly sized so that the gap exceeded the five-thousandths of an inch allowable in the specification.
Boeing said Tuesday that deliveries of its 787 Dreamliner have been delayed again by another manufacturing issue, the latest in a string of setbacks affecting the two-aisle jet.
The 787's latest problem mirrors production issues discovered over 2020 and 2021 that included improperly fitted shimming that led to paper-thin gaps between surfaces on the Dreamliner's fuselage.
Over 70% of the value of Boeing's new 787 Dreamliner was provided by outside suppliers, including engineering work in USA, Australia, France, Japan and Italy. This was a much higher share than in the previous airplanes of the company where less than 50% was outsourced.
The requirement for any large commercial flight (short-haul or long-haul) is to have a minimum of two pilots, regardless of the nature of the flight. That comprises a commander of the aircraft (captain) and a co-pilot (also known as the first officer).
The A350-900 has a 665 nautical mile advantage in range, while the 787-9 has a lighter maximum take-off weight by 62,408 pounds. The A350-900 offers more seating in a typical configuration, which we would expect to result in a lower seat-mile cost.
The 787 was designed to be the first production airliner with the fuselage comprising one-piece composite barrel sections instead of the multiple aluminum sheets and some 50,000 fasteners used on existing aircraft. Boeing selected two new engines to power the 787, the Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 and General Electric GEnx.
ANA is the world's largest 787 operator with 71 planes in its fleet and 12 more to be delivered prior to the latest agreement. “Boeing's 787s have served ANA with distinction, and we are proud to expand our fleet by adding more of these technologically-advanced aircraft,” said Yutaka Ito, executive VP of ANA.
Earlier this year, Boeing said it was moving from producing three to four 787s monthly. Boeing now says it “plans to ramp” 787 output to five aircraft monthly in late 2023. It is also sticking with a plan to produce 10 of the widebodies monthly in 2025 or 2026, and of delivering 70-80 of the jets this year.
The Air InsideThe cabin pressure on the 787 is higher and the humidity higher than other airplanes. Basically, passengers on board will feel like they are at an altitude of 6,000 feet, 2,000 feet lower than a standard flight.