Boeing delays 787 yet again

SEATTLE – Still grappling with shortfalls in its supply chain and slow progress on the assembly line, Boeing Co. ended weeks of speculation Wednesday by announcing the inaugural flight for its new 787 jetliner will be delayed up to three months, pushing delivery of the first plane into early 2009.

This is the third time the hot-selling airplane has been delayed, an embarrassment that has cast a shadow on the company’s credibility.

“I know our credibility is … being tested on this program, and it is up to us to deliver on what we say we will do,” Scott Carson, chief executive of Boeing’s Seattle-based commercial airplane division, said in a conference call with analysts.

After a six-month delay announced last October, Boeing had been aiming to start test-flying the new midsize, long-haul plane by the end of March and deliver the first one to Japan’s All Nippon Airways Co. by the end of the year.

The new schedule calls for test flights to begin by late June. The company did not say how soon in 2009 it believes it can start delivering the plane, which has won more than 800 orders so far.

One of the first key milestones for the first plane – turning on its power – has been delayed until early in the second quarter, said Pat Shanahan, general manager of the 787 program. After that, it will take two to three months to run all the ground tests needed before the plane can fly.

Carson said the delay will prevent the company from meeting its ambitious goal of delivering 109 planes by the end of next year. He said the company will spend the next few months analyzing the status of the program before specifying how much its lowering that target.