Boeing's party is over; now it's crunch time

EVERETT, Wash. - For a few, high-profile hours on Sunday, Boeing’s new 787 Dreamliner captured the world’s attention as it was unveiled during a multimedia extravaganza. Like a newly crowned beauty queen, the revolutionary commercial jet basked in the global spotlight, giving millions of people a peek at aviation’s future.

But as soon as the sun set on Dreamfest '07, assembly workers rolled the airplane back into Boeing’s massive aircraft factory and rolled up their sleeves for 24/7 rework. What the world didn’t see under the plane’s shiny new paint job, were the 1,000 temporary fasteners that need to be replaced, its half-empty belly that still needs to be stuffed with 60 miles of wiring or the avionics systems that still need to be installed and tested.

While most new airplanes are rarely ready to fly when they are first “rolled out,” the 787 rework illustrates the tremendous pressure Boeing is under to get its airplane ready for first flight in late August, certification test flights this fall and commercial service in May 2008 with All Nippon Airways of Japan.

Boeing executives insist the 787 program is on schedule, despite persistent weight issues and early manufacturing snafus. “We have no intentions to be late into service,’’ Boeing 787 chief Mike Bair told reporters Friday during a “rollout” briefing in Seattle.

The stakes have never been higher for Boeing, which has pushed the envelope many times in its 91-year history. The 787 is a $10 billion gamble to reinforce the company’s standing as the world’s most innovative and successful builder of commercial airplanes.

Boeing claims to be holding a winning hand. And with more than $110 billion worth of airline endorsements, it’s hard for giddy executives to maintain a poker face.

On Saturday, Germany’s Air Berlin made a $4 billion order for 25 Dreamliners. As of today, 787 has already racked up a record 677 orders from 47 airlines, making it the biggest selling new commercial jet in history – and it hasn’t even flown yet. The plane, which sells for between $146 million to $200 million, is sold out until 2014.

Despite the unprecedented enthusiasm, Boeing is far from cashing in on the 787. Executives, who just hours ago were popping the champagne, are now working around the clock to turn their Dreamliner into a flying reality – and do it under rigorous and tight deadlines.

“It’s a painful process but we have to go through it,’’ says Bair, 787 vice president and general manager, of the aggressive flight test program that will use six test airplanes. “We know we are going to find issues. You always have challenges when you have a program this complicated going together in what is really kind of record time.”

The TV cameras might be turned off, but the 787 is now under the microscope of federal aviation regulators, anxious airline customers, shareholders and the flying public. Boeing still needs to prove to the world that the new, mostly plastic airplane can fly higher, faster, farther and less expensive than its aluminum predecessors and competitors.

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