Sunday, June 30, 2013

787 June 30, 2013 update

At the end of the 1st quarter 2013, Boeing was struggling to re-right the 787 ship in light of the lithium ion battery issues which had forced a grounding of the aircraft.  One quarter later the ship is righted and with it the deliveries have re-commenced.  Boeing had several Dreamliners waiting for delivery when the FAA had lifted the grounding.  Boing delivered 7 aircraft in May and 9 in June with delivery later in the summer poised to be at higher rates. 

Production did slow down as Boeing had spent most of this month in reconfiguring and reconstructing the main 787 final assembly line in building 40-26.  Because of this and the Temporary Surge Line in 40-24 being used exclusively for 787-9 final assembly, 787-8 production from Everett was essentially stopped.  Aircraft still rolled off the line as these were loaded prior to June but there won't be too many 787s rolling out in Everett during July.  Still, we should see the 1st 787-9 rolling off the line in July and most 787s coming out of 40-26 or 40-24 were ones that were already assembled but needed to finish some minor assembly tasks during the next one month.

To date Boeing has delivered 17 787s to customers. They have 29 post-L/N 66 Dreamliners waiting for delivery as well which I believe they should deliver by the end of September. Boeing should be able to assemble 24 more 787s through mid November from all three lines.  It takes Boeing about 6 weeks from roll out to deliver the aircraft in to the customer though this varies from customer to customer. Additionally, Boeing should be able to deliver 9 787s from EMC in the next 6 months.  This would total 62 787s delivered in the second half of the year.  Combined with the 17 already delivered and the total project 2013 787 deliveries should be around 79.  This total would not include the 787-9 built this year.


Full 787 List

Current 787 Production List

Delivered 787 List

787 Monthly Delivery Tracking

787 Customer Delivery

 








20 comments:

TravelingMan said...

Based on your chart it looks like another early built plane that was in storage is now being reworked. Nice to see. How long does it take to completely rework them (LN10-22), any idea? And do they only work on one at a time? Thanks for the info.

TravelingMan said...

I should have paid more careful attention. Your chart shows that they are currently working on several frames. Anyway glad they're getting them done.

Anonymous said...

Uresh,

Could the minor work that you mention in this post include the installation of the battery fix, or is the new battery system already coming pre-installed in the fuselage sections? It almost seems as if Boeing is using the slowdown due to line reconstruction as an opportunity to speed up the battery fix installation work.

By the way, I also appreciate having external links to your spreadsheets. It allows me to view more columns at once on my screen. However, I would have been satisfied either way because any access to your spreadsheets at all is better than nothing.

Regards,
Mike Bohnet

MRodezno said...

Since Dreamliners started flying again in late April, I've noticed in FlightAware that LAN has yet to beging flying its planes. Is there any reason for the airline to do so? When will they start flying their 787s againg?

larmeyers said...

Mike, it looks like your timing is everything! LAN has it's flight 600 in the air now, designated as "787" on FlightAware (which several carriers such as ANA and China Southern use for domestic Dreamliner flights) instead of the common "B788." There appears to be a continuation of the flight from LIM to LAX early tomorrow (7/2).

agincourt said...

On LAN B788: all three have been in service for quite a while.

Piotrek_ said...

Uresh, all 3 789 test airframes will be powered by RR Trent 1000 engines?

Uresh said...

No 2nd one is GE.

Anonymous said...

Any idea why there are a few frame shuffles going on particularly ANA and Hainan moved from flightline to the runway? Has boeing bumped up some other frames to get delivered first before these

graeme77 said...

According to the WSJ Hainan took delivery of a 787 - probably ZA431

http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20130704-701351.html

Dave said...

Does abyone know which polish birds where affected with the power issue and transpoder faults this week?

Andrew Munsell said...

Happy 4th to all my fellow Americans

graeme77 said...

Five B1's in the past month, a manifestation of what appears to be a disruption in the post-final assembly phase. Just so as to avoid an accumulation of airframes, seven aircraft need to be delivered a month. Boeing have already piled up a backlog and to eat into it significantly, they need to deliver ten or more a month. It is interesting what could be causing this - surely the battery replacement program could not be it, as it was handled like clockwork on those aircraft already delivered to customers. As Uresh has mentioned, the production line appears to have slowed dramatically if not stopped, as well. Some issue, as yet unpublished, seems to be unfolding at Paine...

Uresh said...

Graeme, there isn't any issue. The slow down is purely attributed to construction in 40-26 as I reported in a previous post. Boeing removed the MoATT and replaced it with simpler tooling in position 1 BUT THERE IS NO ISSUE WITH THE AIRCRAFT.

graeme77 said...

Uresh
Please don't get me wrong - I'm a big a supporter of Boeing and the 787 in particular, as any out there. I am just pointing out the fact that despite the large grounding backlog and a production rate of seven a month, there have been only 5 B1's in the last 30 days. A conservative expectation would be for around ten, maybe more. The changes in 40-26 don't necessarily attribute for this. It could theoretically be due to anything - a planning error, industrial action or a workmanship issue. It may also be due to some sort of lack of understanding on my part. I assume that time will tell.

Uresh said...

Since the reconstruction in 40-26, Boeing has started assembly on 2 more 787s LN127 and LN128. If there was something amiss in the program that was serious, those planes wouldn't be going through final assembly.

Cedarglen said...

While Boeing is still rolling out plenty of 787-8 airframes, it seem to me that the largest impediment to deliveries is the backlog of early LNs (before about 66?) that need extensive EMC work. (And that process must be costing them a fortune!) Have all of the major changes now been incorporated into the line-build process? In other words, are the birds rolling off the line in May, June & July essentially ready for customer delivery, or do they too need extensive EMC-like treatment? What's the back-story on modifications necessary airframes currently coming off the production line? Thanks. -C.

Uresh said...

Yes, all the change incorporation work has been laced into the current production system a long time ago. All airplanes since LN 66 don't need change incorporation. All the airplanes starting with LN 66 are ready for customer delivery with little to no travelled work.

Cedarglen said...

@Uresh, On Change incorporation..
Thanks. I Was hoping that was the case. -C.

Vab Andleigh said...

Uresh,

The 787s up to now have all been incorporating a metal (Ti?) strengthening sheet on their carbon fiber wingbox to address some mechanical/delamination type issue discovered early during flight testing, costing several thousand pounds in weight per aircraft. I heard this would no longer be needed in wingboxes for aircraft with LN somewhere in the 120's. Do you know if this is part of the MoAtt reconfiguration right now?

Also, looking forward to my second 787 boston / cross-Pacific flight in Sept (Japan Air, 14 hrs, 2-4-2 seating). Having flown this in both a388 and b788, I'll gladly take the 787 any day. Would even turn down a388 biz class over b787 coach and here's why (besides the usual reasons mentioned in the press):
(1) bigger windows give much bigger views whether you're a window seat or the aisle
(2) LCD-based auto-dimming windows keep the planes much cooler at the gates while in hot cities, unlike other aircraft that just bake
(3) all windows stay at least partly see-through so the plane feels much bigger all the time
(4) folks with contacts or dry eyes / nose / skin etc. will love the higher humidity
(5) higher air pressure is huge benefit on a 14 hour flight -- my 14 hr flight was far more restful than the 5 hr 767 flight that followed, and on the return
(6) very smooth flight -- you can see the wings flex to absorb the vibrations so even in turbulence, the cabin stays very smooth. Funky to see the wingtips bend upward thru the flight as fuel consumed, almost as tall as the tail by end of flight
(7) the flight attendants and pilots seem genuinely happier and give better service in 787s, perhaps due to the better air/humidity or just pride of being on a 787

Oh, and if you haven't seen this article on the 787-10 already, check it out

http://www.aspireaviation.com/2013/07/02/boeing-777x-787-10-show-the-lure-of-the-x-factor/

Vab