Boeing Sees More Delays for New 787

Production glitches might force another postponement
By Zach Samalin,  Newser Staff
Posted Jan 15, 2008 7:48 PM CST
Boeing Sees More Delays for New 787
Visitors crowd around the first production model of the new Boeing 787 Dreamliner airplane during a ceremony at at Boeing's assembly plant in Everett, Wash in this July 8, 2007 file photo. In the months since Boeing Co. announced a six-month delay in its 787 flight-test and delivery schedule, few industry...   (Associated Press)

Boeing is expected to announce soon that it will delay yet again delivery of its 787 Dreamliner, the Wall Street Journal reports. Production is already 6 months behind schedule, and the goal of finishing 109 by the end of next year looks impossible. Boeing may have to pay millions in fines to impatient airlines, and it risks losing customers to rival Airbus.

Scheduled to fly last summer, the first Dreamliner is still in production and may not fly until June. With parts shortages and similar factory-end mishaps fueling the postponements, critics have chastised Boeing for giving up too much control to an overextended network of suppliers. And Boeing shares have registered the effect of the delays, plummeting from $107 to the low $80s. (More Boeing stories.)

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