Wednesday, March 25, 2015

787 Progress Report - March 25, 2015



Deliveries of 787s are still slow though this month but hopefully should start to pick up with 6 days left in the 1st quarter.  Thus far, Boeing has delivered 5 787s: 4 787-9s and 1 787-8 including the 1st 787-9 to be assembled at the North Charleston plant.  The latest delivery was a 787-9 delivered to AerCap on behalf of LAN who will operate it.  I expect that Boeing should be able to deliver 6 more 787s this month.

Production has been moving along without any overt signs of issues and each aircraft going through Everett still makes a stop on the 40-51 ramp to finish minor assembly tasks and for some to have their seats installed.

However flight testing activity has been noticeably thin over the last 2 to 3 weeks.  There are a couple of 787s that are scheduled to be delivered this month but have not flown their customer flights.  It maybe indicative that some customers are not yet ready to take delivery of their aircraft.

There's also been a lot of buzz about American Airlines 787 deliveries or lack thereof.  It does seem that the production issues with the Zodiac seats are persisting and are not only affecting Boeing or 787 deliveries but are impacting different aircraft and manufacturers (Airbus and Boeing).  That said, American has publicly stated that revenue flights won't start until May and the 2 airplanes that they have taken delivery are being used to train their pilots.  It doesn't make sense for AA to take delivery of more 787s if they don't intend to introduce them into revenue service within one month of taking possession.  Thus I don't see any more 787 deliveries until late April at the earliest.  The 2 AA 787s that have flown but not delivered are, I believe, fully outfitted with their seats.

Hainan Airlines announced in a public filing with the Shanghai Stock Exchange today that they intend to purchase 30 787-9s.  However, I believe that these 30 787-9s will be a mix of purchase and leased 787-9.  LN 430 (ZB763) is an aircraft earmarked for Air Lease Corp. (owned by Steven Udvar Hazy) and leased to Hainan Airlines.  ALC has 15 787-9s on order with Boeing so I wouldn't be surprised if the final order is 15 leased from ALC and 15 new 787-9 from Boeing. An article by Jon Ostrower in the Wall Street Journal says that deliveries are to start in 2021 and these slots were some of United Airlines 787-9 slots which are being given up in exchange for the 777-300ER order that UAL intends to place with Boeing.  These slots were initially offered to American Airlines which turned them down as they are focused on introducing the 787-8 into the fleet (replacing 767-200).

Air China is expecting to take delivery of its first Trent powered 787-9 (LN 419, ZB047) next year as well as part of their order of 15 aircraft.  In a bit of disappointing news, it seems that Rwandair will be buying 2 A330s instead of the 787. The carrier had options on 2 787s which were expected to be exercised for two of the "terrible teens" that are sitting on the Everett runway.  Rumor is that Ethiopian came in with a higher bid for these aircraft.  Another rumor is that EVA Air is in the final stages of buying the 787-10 as well as 777F.  The number of each is unknown.  If true it would be a huge boost for the 787-10 which hasn't received an order since early last year and a 3 plane commitment from ANA.

Lastly, a personal note from me.

I've started this blog almost 7 years ago and I've been complimented by many readers over the years and I certainly appreciate it.  The highest form of flattery is when people start to imitate you or cite the information that is in this blog, However there are certain individuals who have used the information in my posts or in the tables I have created without giving proper credit and have passed it on as if it is their own.  I have struggled to figure out want to do including communicating with the offenders but they have continued to steal my information.  I am considering making this a pay site but have not reached a definitive decision as of yet and not sure if that would solve the problem.  My intention for a long time was to just have a free blog that enthusiasts will enjoy reading but it seems that a few bad apples are intent on ruining this for their own gain.  I will keep you all apprised of my final decision regarding this blog.  Thank you for reading!

787 Full Production Table
787 Build Location By Operator 
787 Build Location By Customer

16 comments:

Greg.S. said...

Great news on the order front..
Can't wait for korean to accept delivery of their first..Did air tahiti sign with air lease for 2 787 9's? Also,it looks like Air China finally verified the trent as their power plant choice..

jim said...

Making it a pay site will not stop others from stealing the content. Make sure you have attached the proper copywrite notice and then sue to stop them from stealing the content.

By making it a pay site you will probably lose significant readership.

John E said...

Are these "bad apples" so-called journalists? If so, what about posting their names and contact information in case some of us want to contact them or their editors?

What if the site, or specifically the tables, required some additional security steps and identifiers so that it might be easier to lock out these thieves?

Lastly, have you considered putting Curt Schilling on the case? I heard he's gotten very skilled at tracking down internet trolls :-)

ptmonagle said...

As someone who has followed this blog for, what seems like, seven years, I would be sad to see this a pay site. I'm addicted to following the status of the 787. (Odd that I don't have the same attraction to any other of the Boeing family of planes.) My father-n-law was a PR person for Boeing back in the 60's and I would go over his Boeing production newsletters with a fine comb! Aviation still holds a fascination for many people around the world. It always amazes me that two jet engines can get a plane, 100+ people, baggage, freight...off the ground to 7-miles in a matter of minutes...aviation is an incredible science we take for granted...

Anonymous said...

I would pay a bit to keep following the site, but I expect those stealing your content would too. As a start, I think you should get your lawyer to send them nasty letters.

I've really enjoyed following the 787 program since Boeing started putting ZA001 together, and it simply would not have been possible without this blog. Please keep doing it!

jan said...

That would be a sad day Mr.Uresh.
Your work is great. Best regards

Pablo Alejandro Higuita said...

I am administardor a facebook page dedicated to disseminate information of the B787 in Latin America.
I use information from your blog but I always give credit and get direct link to this Blog.
This blog is excellent, I've been reading it for 3 years. Please keep Doing it!! Congrats!!


This is my page if you want to take a look.

https://www.facebook.com/DreamlinerB787?ref=tn_tnmn

Andrew Munsell said...

This blog has been very helpful in following 787 updates the past 5ish years I have been following the program. It would be a shame to see it become a pay site. Anyway, thanks Uresh for all of your hard work and I hope everyone who has been ripping you off changes their way.

Anonymous said...

Looked around on the web regarding the Hainan order. It seems it's a straight buy without a leaser involved (no leasing arrangement mentioned in any of the articles I've read so far). As reported, the deal is worth $7.7 billion at list price, which amounts to $257 million per copy - about right.

Andrew Munsell said...

This blog has been very helpful in following 787 updates the past 5ish years I have been following the program. It would be a shame to see it become a pay site. Anyway, thanks Uresh for all of your hard work and I hope everyone who has been ripping you off changes their way.

Claudio said...

Hi Uresh, I've been following your blog for many years, I admire the energy you put in keeping those tables up-to-date. If you decide to go the pay site way, I don't think I will follow, but I wish you all the best.

NCPx said...

Uresh,

I have been a follower of this blog for at least the past 4 years (my, how time flies!! Pun intended) and send this note to acknowledge your value to us fellow AvGeeks. And to encourage you to keep the faith, Baby!

Unknown said...

you could maybe post your tables as PDF files with a big ink mark with your name in the background...

TexanInArkansas said...

Urish

Post the offenders on this site and I'm sure a number of us will contact their publication and work to "right the wrong" on your behalf.

Christian Johnson said...

+1 to Jean-Marc Dube's idea. Few of us would lose anything by viewing the tables as PDFs, which are much easier to watermark. Legitimate journalists who want to manipulate spreadsheet data could contact you for the original files, and that would help you reinforce your authorship. A pay site wouldn't do either of those things, and I agree with others that the people who want to steal may well be the more motivated to pay.

But I'd like to end on a positive note: how much I've enjoyed your devotion to this site. I'm a
Boeing Baby myself -- my dad was a computer-science guy who did work related to the SST back in the late 60s and early 70s. He was among the lucky few who left Boeing voluntarily (for a new job with the feds), rather than joining the 50,000 or more who found themselves unemployed during Seattle's "Turn out the lights!" years. The 787 program has been fascinating and your honest reporting on it is a credit to you.

Andrew Munsell said...

I agree with Christian and Jean-Marc. Thanks Uresh for all your work and hope that your post will inform them and they may change their ways.