Midway through the month of May, Boeing is set up quite nicely to delivery a good number of 787s to customers. Thus far Boeing has delivered 4 787s this month including the last of American's 787-8 that were delayed due to the seat issues at Zodiac. Thus far Boeing has delivered 273 787s, 45 during 2015 and 4 in the month of May.
More encouraging is the level of 787 flight test activity that has occurred over the last week and a half. There have been a number of customer flights that have taken place and as a consequence, there are 6 aircraft that are ready to be delivered including at least 5 that are expected to be delivered on May 21st. Boeing is expected to conduct a customer flight in a next couple of days on a 787-9 for United Airlines that will be delivered from Charleston. Thus we can see 6 787s delivered by the start of the Memorial Day weekend for a total of 10 in May with a few more expected to be delivered by the end of May.
However there is a more impressive statistic that I would like to share. The last 15 787 deliveries made by Boeing (essentially the 11 April deliveries and the 4 May deliveries) required and average of 3.8 test flights before the airplanes were handed over. This average excludes the flights made by Charleston built airplanes for painting purposes. Another impressive statistic: Over the same 15 airplanes (excluding the last 2 American Airlines 787s that were delivered during this period) the average time from start of final assembly to delivery is 89.5 days across all three lines in Everett and Charleston.
If Boeing can execute, they can potentially have delivered 13 787s this month, 53 for 2015 and 282 787 delivered since program deliveries began in 2011. There is a potential hiccup though it doesn't seem to be serious. There are three 787-9 for Etihad that have completed final assembly but have not had any test flights. The aircraft are painted but have been sitting on the flightline. One airplane, ZB079 (LN 286, A6-BLC) having finished final assembly activities in mid February....3 months ago! Another, ZB080 (LN 302, A6-BLD) rolled out about a month ago. A third, ZB081 (LN 305, A6-BLE) rolled out of final about 3 weeks ago and just came out of paint a few days ago. I can only speculate that these airplanes are being held up because of issues with Zodiac as well. It appears that these airplanes will be delayed for just as long as the ones for American. These three are the only remaining deliveries to Etihad this year.
Lastly, with about 6 months left before the temporary surge line is shut down for good, There are still 12 airplanes that are in assembly or will go through final assembly by November. Boeing will start 2 more 787s this month, 3 next month (June) and then execute a rate break whereby 2 airplanes will go one each to the main Everett line and the main Charleston line. From July to October, Boeing will send only 1 787 to the temporary surge line.
787 Full Production Table
Total 787 Deliveries By Customer
2015 Projected Operator Deliveries
2015 Projected Customer Deliveries
2015 Projected Operator Deliveries
2015 Projected Customer Deliveries
787 Build Location By Customer
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2 comments:
You should be seeting a big finalisation of a Qantas order in the next few months which is great! The Pilots just agreed to a new deal!
http://www.smh.com.au/business/aviation/qantas-closer-to-7879-dreamliner-order-after-striking-wage-deal-with-pilots-20150528-ghbc4d.html
Remarkable how the number of check flights has fallen so rapidly. 7-10 was the norm not long ago while it appears 2-6 is now the norm.
What are all those test pilots doing now?
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