Increasing Use of Lighter Composite Materials

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Boeing, (NYSE:BA) has been forced to postpone the first flight of its troubled 787 Dreamliner after discovering a weakness in the flagship jet’s structure.

Shares in the US aircraft maker fell by 6.5 per cent by the close of trading in New York after news of the embarrassing setback yesterday, which came only a week after Boeing said at the Paris air show that the start of the flight test programme was on track.

The Dreamliner, running nearly two years behind schedule, had been due to make its maiden flight by June 30.

Boeing said it would be “several weeks” before it could come up with a fresh schedule.

The group said it needed to reinforce several small areas, where the wing attaches to the body, after discovering unexpected stresses during tests on the static test aircraft.

The 787 Dreamliner, Boeing’s most ambitious new aircraft programme in 20 years, had been due to enter commercial service, two years late, in the first quarter next year with All Nippon Airways.

The Japanese carrier said yesterday it was “disappointed” the first flight had been postponed again. It urged Boeing to “specify the schedule for the programme as a whole as quickly as possible”.

Fresh delays could expose Boeing to payment of further heavy penalties to its airline customers.

Rob Stallard, aerospace analyst at Macquarie Securities, said Boeing’s development programme for the 787 had “proved to be too aggressive”.

It had been hugely successful in marketing the aircraft, with a backlog of 866 firm orders even after 58 cancellations this year.

But the unfilled orders for the family of medium-capacity, long-range jets are exerting relentless pressure on Boeing to overcome development problems for an aircraft that is ushering in big changes in the way commercial jets are designed and manufactured.

Boeing’s problems are a reminder of how complex it is to develop a new generation of large commercial aircraft and follow two years of delays suffered by Airbus to bring its A380 superjumbo into commercial service.

Boeing is greatly increasing use of lighter materials in the 787. It has tried to streamline manufacturing and assembly.

Source: Boeing Delays Dreamliner

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