Company News: Boeing plans first 787 test flight in August
Boeing Co. will start assembling the first 787 Dreamliner in the second quarter and anticipates the passenger jet’s initial test flight at the end of August, its chief financial officer said Wednesday.
James Bell told investors that Boeing continues to devote significant research and development spending to resolving weight and timing challenges with the 787, but said they were typical of a new airplane development program at this stage.
The company has received 464 firm orders for the 787 and plans to deliver 112 in the two years after the initial delivery in May 2008.
One of the jet’s major selling points has been that it will use less fuel per passenger than similarly sized airplanes because of a shift to composite materials that are lighter and more durable than aluminum. Bell said the company has shown it can incorporate that new technology on a large scale but substantial production risks remain when it starts ramping up manufacturing.
The latest 787 order was announced Wednesday when Chicago-based Boeing said it will supply four additional 787-8 Dreamliners to First Choice Airways, a U.K. air carrier, for undisclosed terms. First Choice had previously ordered eight of the advanced-technology airplanes.
“Among the chief selling points for consumers if the nation’s only two satellite radio companies are permitted to merge has been that the combined company would offer a much larger selection of programming without increasing prices.
Sirius Satellite Radio CEO Mel Karmazin dashed those hopes, however, in testimony Wednesday before a House subcommittee. Admitting “there was some confusion” over pricing following his appearance before the House Judiciary Committee the week before, Karmazin said if customers want to get programming from both Sirius and competitor XM Satellite Radio, they will pay more than the usual monthly fee of $12.95.
“Online search leader Google Inc. has won a key court ruling in a patent dispute over its popular three-dimensional software that provides Internet tours of the Earth.
In a summary judgment issued Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Douglas Woodlock in Massachusetts decided that Google Earth doesn’t infringe on a patent issued to Skyline Software Systems Inc. in 2002.
Skyline, a privately held company in Chantilly, Va., had been pursuing a patent infringement claim since 2004.