Final Assembly Begins on First Boeing 787 Dreamliner

[Cathay 888]

EVERETT, Wash., May 21, 2007 -- Final assembly of the all-new Boeing [NYSE: BA] 787 Dreamliner began today with a ceremony in Everett, Wash.

"Today we begin assembling the first airplane of a new generation," said Scott Strode, 787 vice president of Airplane Definition and Production. "The 787 not only will revolutionize air travel, it represents a new way of building airplanes."

With 568 firm orders from 44 airlines, the 787 is the fastest-selling new airplane in aviation history. The 787 production system was designed using Lean manufacturing techniques in a simplified final assembly process.

"The 787 production system is the culmination of the lessons we've learned building previous airplanes," said Steve Westby, 787 vice president of Manufacturing and Quality. "Using composites on the 787 airframe has a number of manufacturing advantages. We are able to build huge structure in just one piece, which means we essentially have six major end items coming together in final assembly -- the forward, center and aft fuselage sections, the wings, the horizontal stabilizer and the vertical fin. "

Since the 787 is assembled from these large assemblies rather than many smaller pieces, traditional monument assembly tools are not necessary. Portable tools, designed with ergonomics in mind, move the assemblies into place. No overhead cranes are used to move airplane structure.

"A composite airframe also means less waste in production and fewer hazardous materials used during the assembly process," Westby said. "This is good news for the environment and for our team of manufacturing technicians building the airplane."

Although the first airplane will take about seven weeks to assemble, the 787 team looks to continuously improve flow time as production ramps up. Ultimately, a 787 will roll out of the factory every three days.

The first 787 will roll out of the factory on July 8, 2007.

[Shaun]

With Airbus having teathing problems with their new complex design do you think this will allow boeing to have the upper hand in gaining market share? Since orders are bieng cancelled on a daily basis as delays get longer and longer?

[hl7534]

With Airbus having teathing problems with their new complex design do you think this will allow boeing to have the upper hand in gaining market share? Since orders are bieng cancelled on a daily basis as delays get longer and longer?

The 787's main competitor, the A350, is still a concept. Nothing pertaining to it has been built yet. If you are talking about the A380, it does not directly compete with the 787 or any other Boeing aircraft that is currently in production, so you cannot really compare sales for aircraft that serve different markets. Orders for the A380 are certainly not cancelled on a daily basis, and the only cancellation so far was by FedEx and UPS, both freighters. No passenger-carrying A380 order has been cancelled so far. The A380 program has been delayed 3 times, and so far Singapore Airlines is still scheduled to get their 1st delivered by November 2007.

BTW, the Airbus delays are mainly due to production issues, not the design.

[aznichiro115]

when was the A380 originally to be in full service?

[hl7534]

when was the A380 originally to be in full service?

The first scheduled revenue flight was supposed to take place in May 2006.

[kitchenerlrt]

This is such an exciting time for Boeing. Only 3 more days until we see the 787. Here are some links to the progress of the 787:

http://www.boeing.com/news/feature/sevenseries/index.html

http://787premiere.newairplane.com/

This is going to be one awesome aircraft. By the way, is Air Canada also getting some 787-9's along with the 787-8's.