sn26567 wrote:Boeing will not tell the specific costs of the battery problems, but they will only say they were "minor".
They have probably been hanging out with Ben Bernanke who would probably describe the US Government debt as "minor".
In anyone else's language the cost of the battery problems is massive. Both in terms of direct costs and in costs to their reputation the cost is massive. Anyone who claims otherwise is seriously deluded.
tsv wrote:
In anyone else's language the cost of the battery problems is massive. Both in terms of direct costs and in costs to their reputation the cost is massive. Anyone who claims otherwise is seriously deluded.
In comparison to the cost of the whole 787 project, I don't think they are wrong with stating the costs are relatively minor.
They're still on track to reach break even on the whole project after 1100 deliveries.
Historical flight: the first 787 to re-enter in commercial service with the new battery system took off today from Addis-Abeba with destination Nairibi. Ethiopian Airlines...
Historical flight: the first 787 to re-enter in commercial service with the new battery system took off today from Addis-Abeba with destination Nairobi (flight ET801). Ethiopian Airlines' Dreamliner, seen here just before departure...
tsv wrote:
In anyone else's language the cost of the battery problems is massive. Both in terms of direct costs and in costs to their reputation the cost is massive. Anyone who claims otherwise is seriously deluded.
In comparison to the cost of the whole 787 project, I don't think they are wrong with stating the costs are relatively minor. They're still on track to reach break even on the whole project after 1100 deliveries.
Quotes (different sources) from the latest press meeting:
"Boeing engineers have spent 200,000 hours working on the battery since the Dreamliner was grounded back in January".
"In addition to that, the company’s workers have spent 100,000 hours testing the new battery system".
The Dreamliner battery modifications are adding 184.8 pounds (84 kg) to the weight of the aircraft, according to Boeing’s Alert Service Bulletin. That's equivalent to one passenger!
Boeing has also agreed to compensate Air India for the grounding, but the details of the deal remain secret. I guess that all the other grounded airlines will now knock at Boeing's door to get a similar deal.
Qatar Airways says the grounding of the 787 costed them 200 million Dollar and that they already talked to Boeing about a suitable compensation.
To cope with the delayed 787-deliveries, they'll also order 10-15 Airbus A330's. The deal is almost done, they hope to conclude it by the Paris Air Show. Qatar Airways already announced in October 2012 they started talking with Airbus, due to the delayed 787 deliveries.
But they don't cancell any 787 order. They currently have 5 in their fleet and 25 more to be delivered (as from June deliveries to QR will resume). Al Baker said QR will very likely also convert their 30 options for the 787 in firm orders. They currently only have 787-8's on order, but will probably also order a significant amount of 787-9's or even -10X's with the conversion of their options.
In Dubai both Emirates en Qatar commented on Boeing's latest 777X and 787-10X projects by saying they hope Boeing has learned their lessons from the 787.
Emirates (Tim Clark):
- "Boeing came out of the ashes of the Sonic Cruiser years ago and came up with the Dreamliner, which was a leap of faith by any stretch. They were just beginning to stabilise when things went wrong again,"
- "Perhaps Boeing was not quite ready for it all (the 787). But the crisis helped them learn a lot about design, metallurgy."
- "They placed their faith in supplies from overseas manufacturers and expected them to be as good as they wanted. That is something they will be less inclined to do now."
Qatar (Al Baker):
- "Everyone takes risks but Boeing took a very big risk because they went from ground zero to 100 in one leap instead of going in stages."
- "Like in every new product there will be continuous improvement. Boeing has a permanent solution now but as new processes are developed, so will new batteries. It may not be the lithium-ion batteries later, it may be something else. I'm sure Boeing will look for improvements in the batteries."
The first big parts of the first 787-9 are arriving at the factory, like the horizontal stabilizer.
LN122 (ILFC/Aeromexico) was the last one to enter FAL, the first 787-9 will be LN126 (ZB001) so that will not take that long anymore. Looking forward to see this one leaving FAL later this year
RoMax wrote:The first big parts of the first 787-9 are arriving at the factory, like the horizontal stabilizer.
LN122 (ILFC/Aeromexico) was the last one to enter FAL, the first 787-9 will be LN126 (ZB001) so that will not take that long anymore. Looking forward to see this one leaving FAL later this year
OO-ITR wrote:
nice. thanks for the info. Looking forward to see it for the first time
I see that LN126, LN133 and LN139 are planned to be the Boeing test aircraft. LN146 is the next 787-9 on the list and seems to be assigned to ANA. So I assume at least one of the 3 test aircraft will go to Air New Zealand. They said some weeks ago they hope to launch the 787-9 on their China services.
The first 787-9 will enter final assembly at midyear. First flight is scheduled for the second half of 2013 and first delivery is set for early 2014 to Air New Zealand.
The 787-9 will seat 40 more passengers than the 787-8, with a range of 8,000 to 8,500 nautical miles.
After all the hassles that Boeing has been experiencing with its 787 aircraft, it’s great to hear that the first Dreamliner to be built at the increased production rate of seven airplanes per month has just rolled out of the factory.
The airplane, which rolled out earlier this week, is the 114th 787 to be built overall and the 100th 787 to be built at the Everett, Wash., factory.
I've posted some photos of a Thomson Airways Boeing 787 Dreamliner on my blog. They were taken by one of my readers at Boeing’s Paine Field (KPAE). Here's one of the photos (below) and you can read more / view other images here: http://www.theaviationwriter.com/2013/0 ... liner.html
What do you guys think?? How does it compare to the other 787s?
I guess Jetairfly's 787 will not look much different, except for the titles. I wonder where that 787 will fit in the revised delivery programme: still before the end of 2013?
sn26567 wrote:I guess Jetairfly's 787 will not look much different, except for the titles. I wonder where that 787 will fit in the revised delivery programme: still before the end of 2013?
Apparently deliveries are supposed to start today again with LN83 to be delivered to ANA and fly away tomorrow. LN86 is supposed to be delivered to LOT tomorrow with fly away on May 15th.
JAL could possibly take delivery of LN89 this week, but no delivery date has been named (or at least, cought up by the 'outside world'). Thomson expects LN92 (G-TUIA) on May 30 and LN94 some days later (the second of June).
The Chinese carriers (Hainan and China Southern should already have taken delivery of several 787's before the grounding in January, but the Chinese authorities didn't want to approve the 787). Now the CAAC still has to certify the Dreamliner, but the expectation is that this could be soon. China Southern said they expect their deliveries to start at the end of this month, with 8 out 10 787's to be delivered this year. Als Hainan hopes to take delivery of their first 787 at the end of this month, or at least the first half of June.
British Airways is looking for a firm date in the next weeks, but that's probably something for June.
Things are running at full speed again (all 787's that already got the battery fix, did their first test flights, some of them are doing the 'needed' customer test flights before delivery).
