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Boeing says it is on track to deliver the first customer 787 Dreamliner by September and at least a dozen by the end of the year.
Boeing president and CEO Jim McNerney confirmed the 787 deliveries were on track despite Boeing having to replace improperly coated fasteners on 787 wings to meet US FAA lightning strike protection requirements. Although the issue was first discovered in 2009, Boeing elected to continue taking delivery of wingsets from Japan’s Mitsubishi Heavy Industries with the incorrectly coated fasteners, and instead replace them as part of its ‘change incorporation’ work prior to delivery.
‘Flightblogger’ reports that more than 35 completed 787s require the new wing fasteners.
“There’s no mystery to getting it done,” McNerney said in a conference call to discuss Boeing’s first quarter results. “We understand the work statement, the fix, the work-around, the change that has to be made, and it’s a matter of scheduling it and getting it done.”
Boeing has reported a 13 per cent increase in net profit for the first quarter of 2011 to US$586m (A$542m), on revenue of US$14.9bn (A$13.8bn).
“We’re off to a good start in an important year for our company,” said McNerney. “We delivered strong operating performance, made significant progress on 787 and 747-8 flight testing, and scored a major win on the US Air Force Tanker program. Our outlook remains positive, and our people are focused on meeting customer commitments, driving productivity and competitiveness gains, and capturing growth opportunities in our Commercial Airplanes and Defense, Space & Security businesses.”
