Monday, May 22, 2017

Boeing delivers 550th 787 to Hainan as they increase their order; Potential 787 order from SaudiGulf Airlines

Number
Testing Complete3
To be assembled in Everett176
To be assembled in Charleston135
Parts Arriving6
Undergoing final assembly9
Storage0
Storage/Change Incorporation and Re-Work0
Change Incorporation and Re-Work1
Pre-Flight Prep9
Production Testing3
Non Customer Flight Tests3
Ready for Delivery4
Donation3
Delivered550
TOTAL902


Today, Boeing delivered the 550th 787 today to Hainan Airlines which announced that they will be buying an additional 13 787-9s which I presume is in addition to the 30 that they have already ordered plus the additional 787-9s that are being leased.

The aircraft ZB789 (LN 562, B-7032) is a 787-9 that is directly purchased from Boeing and not being leased.

Also out today, it was revealed that Boeing is negotiating with SaudiGulf Airlines to a widebody order consisting of both 777 and 787.  No word on number of each of sub-types as of yet but don't expect a decision on that for another couple of years.

Sunday, May 14, 2017

787 May Mid Month Review

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Number
Testing Complete3
To be assembled in Everett178
To be assembled in Charleston137
Parts Arriving6
Undergoing final assembly8
Storage0
Storage/Change Incorporation and Re-Work0
Change Incorporation and Re-Work1
Pre-Flight Prep6
Production Testing7
Non Customer Flight Tests3
Ready for Delivery4
Donation3
Delivered546
TOTAL902


Mid way through May 2017, Boeing has delivered 5 787 (2 787-8s and 3 787-9s).  For the year Boeing has delivered 46 787s (12 787-8s and 34 787-9s) and overall 546 787s (336 787-8s and 210 787-9s).

Boeing is on track to deliver another 8 787s (1 787-8 and 7 787-9s) for the remainder of May including one early build 787-8 to Ethiopian Airlines.  Of these 8, 4 have had their customer flights and should deliver within the next 1 week while a further 4 more have already had their B-1 first flights and are awaiting to conduct their customer acceptance flights all within the next 8 days.






Boeing, therefore, should complete May with 13 total deliveries and 554 deliveries overall.  One milestone will be the 550th 787 delivery which I'm projecting will be a 787-9 for Hainan Airlines.  This particular 787-9 is ZB789 (LN 562, B-7032) which is painted a high visibility yellow in preparation for special "Kung Fu Panda" stickers to be added after delivery.

So far Boeing has completed 6 787s including the last 787-10 flight test aircraft (ZC002, LN 565, N565ZC).  They started final assembly on a further 7 aircraft during this first half of May.  We may see Boeing back up to producing and rolling out 12 787s per month after the planned disruption caused by the introduction of the 787-10 into the production process.

Boeing's order book got a little bump last week when WestJet finalized it's order for 10 787-9s bringing the yearly 787 order intake to 23.  With the Paris Air Show next month I'm hoping that Boeing will have more 787 orders to announce at the industry event.

787-10 testing continues to proceed during the weekdays in the skies over Washington State.  Notably absent from the test flight activities is ZC036 (LN 548, N548ZC).  The GE powered 787-10 first flew on May 2 and ferried to Boeing Field on May 4th but has not flown since.  I'm not sure for the delay in continued test flights for this aircraft.  It is possible that there is an issue that needs to be rectified before continuing with flight tests or it could be that the aircraft is performing ground tests that are needed prior to returning to the air.  ZC001 (LN 526, N526ZC) is flying and has completed just under 46.5 hours of flights thus far in May.  ZC002 should be flying by June 9th but is currently still inside 88-30 presumably going through some ground tests as as well a wrapping up minor assembly activities.

You can keep track of 787 activities though the spreadsheets which is linked to below.

787 Spreadsheets