Wash. Rinse. Repeat. Sigh, another Air India 787 delivery delay...again

Getting word that there is another delay in delivering the first 787 to Air India, yet again.  This time the issue is being held up by an unspecified "paperwork" issue...perhaps someone forgot to bring their corporate credit card to pay for the airplane.

Sources are saying that delivery could occur around lunchtime tomorrow but we'll see.  In the meantime I'm revering the delivery entry on my spreadsheet as I'm not sure if contractual delivery actually took place or not in the light of this information and the uncertainty it causes.

I'll update this post with more information, if and when it becomes available.

UPDATE (2:35PM):  Susanna Ray of Bloomberg has an article out saying that the delivery will take place no earlier than tomorrow as there is a bank holiday today (Monday) in the UK and the financing bank, Standard Chartered is a London based bank which is doing the financing of the first 2 airplanes being delivered to Air India.

Here's Susanna Ray's article in Bloomberg:

(BN) Boeing Sets Air India 787 Delivery as Wait Ends After Talks
(1)

------------------------------------------------------------
Susanna Ray | U.S. aerospace reporter | Bloomberg News
O: +1-206-913-4541 | M: +1-312-607-0747 | E: sray7@bloomberg.net

+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+

Boeing Sets Air India 787 Delivery as Wait Ends After Talks (1)
2012-08-24 19:08:01.69 GMT


     (Adds background on compensation in sixth paragraph.)

By Karthikeyan Sundaram and Susanna Ray
     Aug. 24 (Bloomberg) -- Boeing Co. said it expects to hand
over its first 787 Dreamliner to Air India next week, ending
months of waiting while several of the jets sat ready during
talks over compensation for delivery delays.
     A team of about 20 Air India pilots, flight attendants,
engineers and operations personnel arrived yesterday in
Charleston, South Carolina, to prepare to receive the plane,
Boeing India President Dinesh Keskar said in an interview.
     Air India may take delivery as early as Aug. 28, according
to an official with the state-owned carrier who asked not to be
identified because the plan hasn’t been announced. The airline,
which has 27 Dreamliners on order, received government
permission Aug. 3 to pay for its initial 787 after Chicago-based
Boeing agreed to compensation.
     “Friday is already over in India, Monday is a bank holiday
in London, and that’s where the money comes from, so Tuesday
would be the earliest,” Keskar said of the first delivery.
     Air India’s first two Dreamliners are being funded by a
$195 million loan from Standard Chartered Plc. Three of the jets
are ready and parked at Boeing’s South Carolina factory, and a
fourth was preparing for its maiden flight when its General
Electric Co. engine blew out during a July 28 taxi test.

                        Compensation Plan

     The 787 was more than three years behind schedule when it
entered service in late 2011. While Air India had asked for $840
million in compensation for delays to its order, India’s
government didn’t give a figure this month when it approved an
agreement between Boeing and the airline. Boeing has declined to
give any financial specifics.
     Last month’s engine failure remains under investigation by
the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board, and Boeing and
Fairfield, Connecticut-based GE have said the defect was limited
to the power plant on that jet. Keskar declined to discuss the
engine incident.
     Air India ordered the 787 in 2005 and was initially due to
start receiving the planes in 2008. Boeing struggled with new
materials and manufacturing processes for the world’s first
jetliner made from composite materials, delaying the first Air
India jet until this year.
     The delivery was further hampered by compensation talks,
the government approval process and a two-month strike by pilots
over the right to fly the new plane.
     All Nippon Airways Co., Japan Airlines Co. and Ethiopian
Airlines are the only carriers to fly the 787 so far. Qantas
Airways Ltd. canceled an order for 35 of the jets this week,
still leaving Boeing with a backlog for more than 800
Dreamliners.

For Related News and Information:
Top Stories:TOP
Industry dashboard: BI AIRM
Top transportation stories: TRNT
Boeing financials: {BA US FA IS ]

--Editors: Ed Dufner, Cecile Daurat

To contact the reporters on this story:
Karthikeyan Sundaram in New Delhi at +91-11-4179-2009 orkmeenakshisu@bloomberg.net;
Susanna Ray in Seattle at +1-206-913-4541 orsray7@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Ed Dufner at +1-214-954-9453 oredufner@bloomberg.net