787 May Month End Review

Boeing had a pretty good month delivering 12 787s to customers.  Among the highlights is the 13th and last 787-8 for TUI Travel and 2 787-8 for American Airlines.  It does seem that for American the Zodiac seat issue is behind them but it appears the same cannot said for Etihad.  They have 3 787-9s waiting on the flightline, only 1 of which has flown.  Boeing achieved and production efficiency ratio of 0.83 (roll out of 10 787s vs. delivery of 12 aircraft).  Again anything lower than 1 is a good sign that Boeing is moving to reduce the backlog of 787s and make the production, testing and delivery process more efficient.  Overall production efficiency is just under 1 at 0.98 with Charleston being a little bit more efficient (0.94) versus Everett (1.0) thus far this year.

One notable achievement is that Boeing was able to deliver a 787-9 to Scoot in under 70 days from the time the aircraft started final assembly.  ZB130 (LN 308, 9V-OJD) started final assembly on March 23, 2015, rolled out on April 22nd, 2015, had its first flight on May 6, 2015 and was delivered on May 29th, 2015.  A total of 67 days.  This may well have been a test of new processes in the production system designed to cut build and delivery time significantly especially before the two main 787 lines in 40-26 and 88-30 go up in rate by the end of this year.  Eventually both lines are to be producing 7 aircraft each by the end of the decade but the upshot is that Boeing needs to cut the total time from the start of final assembly to delivery.

Boeing started final assembly on 10 787s including a 787-8 BBJ for the Sultan of Brunei and Air Canada's first 787-9.  Of these 10, 4 are 787-9 and 6 are 787-8.  Over the course of the next few months I expect that this ratio will change as the number of 787-8 remaining to be built (barring new orders) decreases.  If Boeing is to sell more 787-8s, I am starting to believe that they will need to look to reduce weight of the aircraft as well as introduce other fuel saving measures including urging GE and Rolls Royce to improve the fuel burn of their engines.  Roll Royce seems to be on that path with the Trent-1000-TEN.

Boeing rolled out 10 787s including the first 787-8 for PrivatAir.  Of the 10 rolled out, 5 are 787-8 and 5 are 787-9.

For next month Boeing should deliver 14 787s prior to the end of the second quarter.  Of these 14, 9 should be 787-9 including the three aforementioned Etihad airplanes.  Air India's final 787-8 (assuming they convert the remaining 6 into 787-9s) will also be delivered in June as will Japan Airlines' first 787-9 which coincidentally is the first of the 3 787-9 test airplanes to be delivered.  Another notable delivery is the first 787-9 for Vietnam Airlines which is rumored to be performing the flying display at this year's Paris Airshow in mid June.  Lastly, the penultimate 787-8 for both Kenya Airways and Xiamen Airlines will be delivered in June.

787 Full Production Table

787 Current Production Table

Delivered 787 List

787 Production and Delivery Trends

787 Monthly Delivery Tracking

Current 787 Operators

Total 787 Deliveries By Customer
2015 Projected Operator Deliveries
2015 Projected Customer Deliveries

787 Build Location By Operator 
787 Build Location By Customer

Boeing attempts to build and deliver 787-9 in 67 days

Boeing is going to try and build and deliver a 787-9 for Scoot in 67 days.  The aircraft in questions, ZB130 (LN 308, 9V-OJD) started final assembly on March 23 and rolled out on April 22, which was 30 days later, from the main 787 assembly line 40-26 in Everett.  It took its first flight today, May 6 which is 2 weeks after rolling out and is projected to spend 23 days in pre-delivery.

ZB130 still has to be painted that should happen between May 10 and May 15th with delivery occurring on May 29th.  This would be 67 days from the time the aircraft entered final assembly to the time it would be delivered.  Of course this could be derailed if there are maintenance or build issues or if Scoot is not prepared to take delivery for some reason.

If Boeing is able to accomplish this, it would be a milestone event in the 787 program as Boeing has yet to build and deliver a 787 in under 70 days.  The current record is 76 days when Boeing built and delivered a 787 to Arke (owned by TUI Travel) earlier this year.  That aircraft, ZA324 (LN 281, PF-TFM) was built in Everett and spent 38 days in final assembly (40-24 surge line), 24 days in pre-flight testing and paint, and 14 days in pre-delivery.  Boeing would hve more confidence in increasing the production rate as well reaffirm their production methods with the aim of further reducing production costs.  If Boeing can demonstrate faster production and delivery times, it can go a long way to reducing 787 production costs which has been a drain on its earnings,