Passengers will have to wait a little longer than expected to fly in the new Boeing 787 Dreamliner, after the plane’s manufacturer yesterday (January 16) admitted that the first one would not be in operation until early next year.
The company had previously hoped to fulfil initial orders for new planes before the end of 2008, with Japan’s All Nippon Airways scheduled to receive the Dreamliner first.
However, yesterday’s announcement means the launch of the plane has been put back by a total of ten months from its initial completion date, and Boeing admitted it is now under the spotlight.
“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 the company’s commercial airplane division, told The Associated Press.
Several UK airlines have placed orders for the new jet, with British Airways set to receive 24 planes in 2010 and Virgin Atlantic expecting 15.
First Choice told The Scotsman that it was still waiting to find out the impact of the news on its delivery date for 2009, while Flyglobespan chairman Tom Dalyrmple told the newspaper that they were already prepared for the possibility of delays to their Dreamliner order.
“We deliberately chose a 2010 delivery date rather than be a launch customer in case there were any early delays, and we have so far had no indications from Boeing of any delays to our planes.”
