787 2017 1st Half Activity Update and Review

	Number
Testing Complete	3
To be assembled in Everett	168
To be assembled in Charleston	128
Parts Arriving	6
Undergoing final assembly	7
Storage	0
Storage/Change Incorporation and Re-Work	0
Change Incorporation and Re-Work	0
Pre-Flight Prep	11
Production Testing	5
Non Customer Flight Tests	4
Ready for Delivery	2
Donation	3
Delivered	565
TOTAL	902

And then there was one.  Boeing is close to concluding the chapter of the 787s painful birth as they delivered the penultimate early build 787-8 to Ethiopian Airlines.   The aircraft ZD003 (LN 10, ET-ATG) was assembled (more or less) in May 2010 but sat around Everett still needing work to get the aircraft up to FAA flight standards  as well as those of Ethiopian Airlines. Seven years later it is now entering revenue service.  This aircraft was one of 12 787s that Boeing delivered in the past month.

So the count is 12 787s in June (3 x 787-8, 9 x 787-9).  For the second quarter they delivered 33 787s (8 x 787-8s, 25 x 787-9s) which is one more than in the 1st quarter.  Thus far in 2017 Boeing  has delivered 65 787s comprising of 16 x 787-8s and 49 x 787-9s.  Program deliveries to date stand at 565 (340 x 787-8, 225 x 787-9s).

Boeing get production on par with deliveries as they rolled out 12 787s and started final assembly on another 12.  Thus the production efficiency ratio is 1 (12 rolled out aircraft vs 12 delivered aircraft).  American Airlines took 3 787-9s this month and LOT Polish Airlines took its penultimate 787-8.  Interestingly (and finally) Saudi Ministry of Finance took 2 787-9s that have been no more than extra large paper weights in Everett and Charleston.  I still don't know the reason for the delivery delay but I suspect it might have to do with delays in installing buyer furnished equipment into the interiors of the aircraft.

Some of the notable 787s that started final assembly in June included El Al's first 787-9 as well as Air India's penultimate 787-8.  I don't have the updated delivery list yet for July deliveries and I will have more to say on this when I get the information.

The 787 also did well in June as far as orders are concerned.  The Paris Air Show helped Boeing add a decent number of 787s to their firm order book with AerCap coming in for another 30 x 787-9s, El Al Airlines firming up 2 x 787-s and 1 x 787-9.  There were several more MoUs particularly from China which will add to the order book once they're finalized.  After the show Boeing had finalized 19 x 787-10 for Singapore Airlines along with 20 x 777X.  Singapore Airlines does have the option to convert their 787-10s into other 787 models thus giving them flexibility to meet future capacity needs.  While not quite a 1:1 book-to-bill ratio the 75 orders so far in 2017 gets Boeing to a better place in terms of maintaining the 12/month production rate though to get to 14 they will still need close to 100 more orders by the end of the year.

Lastly, Boeing has reported that they are about 30% completed with the 787-10 test program as the last flight test aircraft, ZC002 (LN 565, N565ZC) earlier this month.  Oddly enough it stayed in Charleston conducting some flights of the Eastern Seaboard before flying to Victorville where it conducted test flights off the US/Mexico West Coast.  The aircraft has returned to Charleston where I believe it had swapped out flight test equipment to prepare it for further test objectives.  While that was going on, ZC001 (LN 528, N528ZC) flew to Le Bourget and was at the Paris Air Show 2017 for only a couple of days before flying back to Boeing Field with a fuel stop in Shannon, Ireland.  Hopefully Boeing will have an amazing flying display next year at Farnborough 2018.  By the end of June and by my estimation, Boeing has flown over 371 flight test hours on 129 sorties.  June was the busiest month for the flight test program thus far booking over 188 hours in the test flights.  At the current pace I'm wondering if Boeing can complete the 787-10 flight test program by the end of the year?

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