First GE powered 787-10 to be delivered to Etihad Airways on Oct. 30

Etihad's 1st 787-10 photo by Mike Cassidy 

Etihad's 1st 787-10 photo by Mike Cassidy

Abu Dhabi based Etihad Airways will take the first 787-10 powered by GE's GEnx-1B engines on October 30, 2018.  This aircraft is ZC061 (LN 743, A6-BMA).  Three days later on November 2 United Airlines will take delivery of it's first 787-10 ZC037 (LN 763, N14001) also powered by the GE powerplants.  Boeing will also deliver one of three former 787-10 test aircraft to Singapore Airlines on November 5th.  ZC002 (LN 565, 9V-SCG) flew about 50 test flights in support of certification flight testing for the 787-10 program.  There hasn't been any announcement of the GE powered 787-10 receiving it's type authorization certificate from the FAA which allow deliveries to proceed but typically the final certification is issued a few days prior to first delivery. 

United Airlines' 1st 787-10 flying to Everett photo by Mike Cassidy

Lastly, Bloomberg is reporting that Lufthansa is talking to Boeing about an order for the 787 which would be huge.  The catch is that Boeing may have to buy their old A340s which essentially has little to 0 secondary market. Still, if Boeing were to sell the 787 to Lufthansa, it would be the third major wide body aircraft sale to the German flag carrier in the last decade (747-8I and 777-9 being the first 2) and would mean that the airline would have ordered all three of Boeing's current wide body offerings.

787 Mid Month Review for August 2017

	Number
Testing Complete	3
To be assembled in Everett	156
To be assembled in Charleston	120
Parts Arriving	6
Undergoing final assembly	8
Storage	0
Storage/Change Incorporation and Re-Work	0
Change Incorporation and Re-Work	0
Pre-Flight Prep	12
Production Testing	4
Non Customer Flight Tests	4
Ready for Delivery	6
Donation	3
Delivered	580
TOTAL	902

As the summer is drawing to a close, Boeing continues 787 deliveries and production at 12 per month thus there is an absence of the usual summer time slow down probably to make up for the slow down in production bought on by the introduction of the 787-10.  In the past two plus weeks Boeing has delivered 3 787 (all -9s) and have 9 more being readied for delivery by the end of this month.  6 of the 9 already have had their customer flights while the other three have had their first flights.  El Al's first 787-9 should be delivered around Friday, August 18th.  Air India should be receiving 2 more 787-8s as well leaving one more left on their order of 27 Dreamliners.

Production wise, Boeing has rolled out 7 airplanes thus far and started final assembly on another 7. Among the aircraft that should roll out over the next two weeks will be QANTAS' first 787-9.  This airplane should be on the 40-51 Ramp in about 1 week.  Air India's last 787-8 should also roll out by the end of the month.

In 787-10 testing, Boeing has racked up over 525 flight test hours with ZC001 doing most of the heavy lifting in support of certification followed by ZC036 and then ZC002.  The aforementioned ZC001 is currently in Victorville, Ca. while ZC036 is still in Seattle and ZC002 is in Charleston.  Boeing should begin final assembly on the ZC003 early next month.  This is the first -10 that will be delivered to a customer (Singapore Airlines).  I fully expect that this aircraft will also do some flight test activities (functionality and reliability testing).  This would follow what Boeing did for the 787-9 program where they had 5 airplanes performing flight tests including 2 production aircraft in addition to the 3 flight test airplanes.  I expect that ZC037 which will be a production 787-10 with GE engines to perform a similar function around the middle of next year.

787 Spreadsheets

787 Firing Order Updated

I've updated the spreadsheets to reflect the firing order up to LN 742.  Surprise, surprise, it looks like Biman Bangladesh will take the 4 787-8 they have on order.  Their first 787-8 is ZA954 (LN 726).  I estimate that this aircraft should be delivered in about 14 months from now.

Also it appears that United will receive the first GE GEnx-1B powered 787-10 next year.  This aircraft is ZC037 (LN 731).  Eva Airlines will take it's first 787 (a 787-9) on lease from Air Lease Corp.  This is ZB771 (LN 722).  China Southern Airlines' first leased 787-9 will come from AerCap, they have ZB934 (LN 737).

Check out all the tables by using the following link:

787 Tables