There was quite a bit of moving around for Boeing's 787 inventory both in Everett and in Charleston. To start, Boeing confirmed that the two Air India 787s that are ready for delivery were flown to Charleston to free up space on the Everett ramp. Boeing said that it was a good move as several of the first few Charleston built planes are also destined for Air India. Speaking of Air India 787 deliveries, there is word that the Ministry of Aviation won't sign off on the deal until next week because one of the ministers is on vacation. Apparently in India business stops if someone is out on vacation. IF, and that is really big IF, everything get signed off by the government of India deliveries conceivably can start towards the end of next week or early the following week. There is a great article in the Charleston Regional Business Journal about Air India, the 787s and the attitude behind the whole fiasco but it sums up the attitude of the GoI and Air India quite nicely.
Boeing flew ZA461 (LN 58, A7-BCB) to Boeing Field on Sunday in preparation for it to fly to Farnborough on Thursday. Word is delivery to Qatar Airways should occur the week of July 16th IF (another big IF) there are no contractual hang ups. A date has not been set and given the unpredictability of Qatar CEO Akbar Al Baker this rough time frame could slide. Qatar's pilots still has to fly the aircraft I believe and this probably won't occur until after the Farnborough Air Show. The airplane is flying July 9th to July 11th and I anticipate that it should return to Everett on July 11th. When it returns to Everett this plane will be carrying two Qatar Airways pilots who might conduct customer flights and may eventually ferry the aircraft back to Doha when delivery is complete. It is conceivable that Qatar could take delivery before Air India making this carrier the third airline to fly the 787 and the first one outside of Japan.
ANA took delivery of its 10th 787 on Sunday, ZA509 (LN 56, JA812A) then flew to Haneda International Airport last night. ANA should be taking delivery of 4 to 5 more 787s by the end of August given the number that is in pre-flight. Another ANA 787 will be pushed out the door tonight. This airplanes is ZA119 (LN 69) will go to the 40-51 ramp to finish off minor assembly tasks before going off to paint.
On the production front, Boeing pulled out ZA238 (LN 54) from building 88-03 in Charleston. It is now on the flight line along with the other three Air India bound 787s. No word on if assembly has started on ZA431 (LN 76) for Hainan Airlines but I'm assuming for now that parts are still arriving. At Everett, Boeing has moved another 787 inside the EMC. ZA460 (LN 57, A7-BCA) for Qatar Airways is now inside where it is continuing with change incorporation along with units for China Southern, United and JAL. One or both of the China Southern airplanes should be out by August where it will go through painting and go into pre-flight. This airline can possibly take delivery in September.
I have updated the tables below to reflect the current disposition of all the 787s that are in production or have been delivered. Have a safe and Happy 4th of July!
Tuesday, July 3, 2012
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12 comments:
Uresh, thank you for all your hard work.
Looking at the color-coded spreadsheet, it looks like there are 5 planes listed as being in the EMC or 40-24 but you still have them red instead of dark green. These are LN 21, 45, 50, 63, and 64. Are these planes currently undergoing change incorporation or are the locations incorrect?
Yes this is all correct. Those 5 78s are outside on the Ramp. There aren't any planes listed in 40-24 that are coded red.
Anything known about the allocation after LN080 yet? Thanks.
Peter
Nothing yet.
Hey there,
Quick Question, any idea what time the Qatar 787 will leave BFI for Farnbourough on Thursday?
As LN63 was the target for no rework before the shimming issue was known, LN63,64 and 65 should mostly be about shimming for rework and the few jobs that is done off of FAL.
Those birds should fly through EMC imo.
Charleston, as there is no EMC in Charleston, how do they go about the frames pre 66? They do take their time to assemble a complete frame..Do they do the rework on FAL? At what station is this?
Will the LN66+ frames be faster in Charleston?
Don't know yet.
The pre-LN 66 frames in Charleston spend extra time at each position to complete all work. When they're sent to the flight line they should very (under 100) jobs left to be done. LN 63-LN 65 still have to wait in line before work is done but they should fly (no pun intended) through the process and be out on the flightline relatively quickly. The speed in Charleston will be dictated by the number of frames sent their way as well as how fast the pre-LN 66 frames get through final assembly. I think it's safe to say that they would be coming out one frame every two months for the rest of this year...LN 46 came out end of April, LN 54 came out at the end of June. I anticipate the next one (LN 60) to be out around mid to late August and LN 65 around mid October if not earlier.
Uresh, I found a nice write-up on the fate of the first three Dreamliners, LN #001, 002 & 003.
Friday, June 29th blog at:
totallyjackedupaircraftphotos.blogspot.com
So when the last pre LN66 frame rolls off FAL in October Charlestom should pick up the pace a bit?
I think it would be smart to use the delivery center more in Charleston as it has a lot less work load compared to Everett. They have no 747/777 or 767 line to compete with.
I have a feeling Charlestons work share will grow with time. The climate is warmer there as well? No snow storms etc?
Thanks for sharing!
Charleston does get hurricanes.
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