Another correction, JAL took delivery of the 100th Dreamliner (seriously this time)

There has been plenty of confusion as to who received the 100th Dreamliner but thanks to Greg, an eagle eyed reader of this blog we might be able to finally declare who the winner is:

Japan Airlines received the 100th 787.  It was ZA175 (LN 20, JA821J)

this aircraft was seen by Matt Cawby at the Everett Delivery Center on Nov. 5th and a Flightwaware alert popped up showing that this aircraft was to leave that evening for Tokyo.  The aircraft never left and was ultimately towed back to the flightline at Everett.

Since then Hainan Airlines took delivery of a 787, ZA434 (LN 85, B-2730) at Charleston and flew it to China so that left many assuming that this aircraft was number 100.

Then Greg found a posting on Boeing's New Airplane Flight tracker web site.  Boeing has delivered 101 787 as of November 8, 2013.  This can only mean that ZA175 was delivered as not other 787 except for ZA434 has been seen at the Everett Delivery Center or the Charleston Delivery Center.  Since ZA175 was at the EDC on Sept. 5 and ZA434 showed up at the CDC on Nov. 8th it should follow that ZA175 was delivered before ZA434.

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Second 787-9 takes flight, Boeing delivers 100th 787 (for real this time)

 

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Ok so I have to backtrack a little bit.  Last week ZA175 (LN 20, JA821J)for Japan Airlines appeared at the Everett Delivery Center and later in the day Flightaware.com showed a delivery flight planned for that aircraft to Tokyo.  This was, I assumed, the 100^th delivery of a 787 to a customer and I reported it as such. However, the flight plan timed out and a couple of days later the aircraft was towed back to a flightline stall.  Now the aircraft may have been contractually delivered but I am not sure.  Right now it seems that ZA434 for Hainan Airlines (LN 85, B-2730) looks to be the 100^th delivered 787.

Given the high level of interest in the 787 I would have expected that Boeing would have made some comment about the delivery but as of yet there hasn’t been any communication about it even after I’ve made an inquiry about it.  Boeing is being very quiet about this which seems to suggest that there might be some sort of behind the scenes issue with who is the actual recipient of 787 #100 or Boeing is waiting to make a very big splash about it at some later date.

As far as production goes, Boeing is still making very good progress in ramping up the rate in the factory.  November has been slow in terms of production testing after last month’s flurry of flight test activity.  There are still 4 aircraft including the aforementioned ZA175 waiting to be delivered.  Boeing has delivered 2 aircraft through the first 10 days of this month though I still see Boeing able to deliver at least 6 more aircraft this month.  They will have to start moving planes out of the flightline and into customer hands if they’re to increase the rate and avoid have a glut of 787s crowding the Everett and Charleston ramps.  This week will probably be critical in terms of determining the progress in delivering these Dreamliners.  Boeing will need to get a few (about 4) more aircraft up doing their B-1 as well as have the 6 airplanes that have already started production testing flying their customer flights.

Last week ZB002 (LN 133, N789FT), the second 78-9 test aircraft, flew for the first time in a 4 hour and 18 minute test flight.  The following day, ZB001 (LN 126, N789EX) resumed test flights after spending a week at Everett.  No reason was given for the 1 week layover but I suspect it was to fine tune the aircraft and possibly change out some flight test equipment.  ZB021 (LN 139, N789ZB) had its GEnx engines run for the first time and I suspect will join the test flight program sometime around mid-December.  In the meantime, Boeing is continuing production work on the first 787-9.  ZB197 (LN 146) is destined for ANA and will be used for some of the final testing activities that the FAA mandated to be done on a production standard aircraft. I expect that this aircraft should roll out by late November but I don’t expect that it will be needed for any test flights until February at the earliest.  I still expect that the first 787-9 should deliver to Air New Zealand around April, 2014.

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Boeing equals 2012 787 delivery total.

Mid way through October Boeing has delivered 46 787s which is the same number that they delivered in all of 2012.  They've made great progress in bouncing back from the battery issues that grounded the world wide fleet and halted deliveries.  Through Oct. 6th, Boeing has delivered 95 787s and looks to deliver the 100th 787 later this month. Which one will get that honor is up in the air but it should still happen this month as there are several 787s that are in the middle or have completed their production testing.

Given we're at month end I think there is a little bit more clarity to the delivery schedule for the rest of this month.  So far in October Boeing has delivered 6 787 including 4 from Charleston.  Boeing, I believe, can deliver another 6 to 8 aircraft as follows:

ZA175 (LN 20, JA821J) to Japan Airlines
ZA235 (LN 32, VT-ANG) to Air India
ZA381 (LN 36, B-2726) to China Southern Airlines
ZA434 (LN 85, B-2730) to Hainan Airlines
ZA386 (LN 104, B-2737) to China Southern Airlines
ZA562 (LN 122, N964AM) to ILFC/Aeromexico*
ZA563 (LN 127, N965AM) to ILFC/Aeromexico*
ZA446 (LN 130, V8-DLB) to Royal Brunei Airlines

* Dependent on US Govt. shutdown

While it looks good that the US government may reopen as early as tomorrow this could help with the deliveries to US-based buyers like ILFC.  ZA562's deliver, it seems, has been delayed as the FAA's registration office in Wichita, KS has remained closed because of the budget debacle.

While Boeing has been pretty aggressive with conducting production flights for the first half of the month, things seems to have quieted down in the last couple of days indicating that Boeing may be making taking some corrective action on the airplanes that they have flown before conducting customer acceptance flights or are preparing for those customer flights which would get underway shortly.  Additionally, Boeing is preparing to fly the second 787-9 (ZB002, LN 133, N789FT) within the next week though no date has been given. So far the 787-9 test program has accumulated just under 94 flight test hours.

Looking ahead, it seems that Boeing might be gearing up to increase 787 output per their plan.  10/month by the end of the year is still their goal and they seem to be on the verge of achieving it. Sources have told me that LN 158 will be the first airframe that will be produced at 10/month.  This aircraft is slated to be built in Charleston.  Boeing appears to be loading a 787 frame into position 1 every 14 to 16 days.  Extrapolated this would mean that ZA244 (LN 158, VT-ANP) should load (and Boeing would start producing 10/month) around December 8th.  Boeing is quickening the production rate which did slow down due to the 787-9 flight test aircraft assembly.

Lastly, with the government shutdown seemingly coming to an end, I'd like to leave you all with this:

So... the good news is that you're getting the government back, and the bad news is that you're getting THAT government back.
— SarcasticRover (@SarcasticRover) October 16, 2013

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Updated 787 Production - 7/5/2012

The 787 production and disposition list has been updated to reflect the firing order for airplanes 81 to 90.  This lot of aircraft should be in production through mid-October 2012.  There are no new customers on the list but LOT Polish Airlines will receive its 3rd, 4th and 5th 787s from a total order of 8.  All these aircraft should be delivered, assuming no issues with production or the aircraft, by the end of this year.  The airlines that are to get aircraft from this lot of 10 are Hainan (2), ANA, JAL (2), LOT Polish (3), Qatar, and Air India.  Airplane 90 also marks a start of the block point of 787s where Boeing is to get the 787-8 down to the promised contractual weight when the program was launched in 2004.  The airline that will receive the first aircraft in this block point is Air India, surprisingly.  Please note that this firing order can change between know and the time that these airplanes start final assembly perhaps even after they've been rolled out of the final assembly hall.