Boeing postpones 787 launch again

“Boeing is not going to be able to prove they have a handle on this thing until they get the plane into the air and are able to actually begin producing the airplane without any glitches,” a point the company won’t reach until the end of this year, said Scott Hamilton, managing director of the Seattle-area aerospace consulting group Leeham Companies LLC.

Boeing shares rose $2.14, or nearly 3 percent, to close at $80.00 Wednesday, after slipping about 5 percent the day before following news reports that another delay was imminent. The company’s stock has fallen about 20 percent since last July, before the first delay was announced.

It was not immediately clear how many of 787 customers will be affected by the latest delay. Last fall, the company said it was working on revised delivery schedules with about 15 customers. To date, Boeing said 55 have placed 817 orders for the plane.

Some analysts estimate Boeing faces as much as a few million dollars in penalty payments for every plane that’s delivered late.

“This further delay in the delivery of the 787 is extremely regrettable,” All Nippon Airways, which has ordered 50 787s, said in a statement e-mailed by company spokesman Damion Martin. “We will work with Boeing on the revised schedule and decide how to proceed from there.”

Australia’s Qantas Airways Ltd. said the delay would slow the international expansion plans of its budget subsidiary Jetstar, but would have no impact on the parent company’s earnings or its overall growth strategy.

Qantas, which has ordered 65 787s, said Jetstar originally planned to take delivery of its first 787 this August, but now expects that won’t happen before May of next year. CEO Geoff Dixon said Qantas would be discussing penalty payments with Boeing in the coming weeks.

Boeing said the delay’s impact on its 2008 earnings guidance is not expected to be significant. The company said it would update guidance for the current fiscal year when it reports fourth-quarter 2007 earnings on Jan. 30, and guidance for 2009, the first year it’s likely to be hit with substantial penalties, in late April.

Hamilton surmised that because Boeing has won so many orders for the 787, it could take a bigger financial hit than rival Airbus SAS did with its A380 superjumbo, which was delivered to its first customer last fall after nearly two years of delays.

The 787 is Boeing’s first newly designed jet since airlines started flying the 777 in 1995. It will be the world’s first large commercial airplane made mostly of carbon-fiber composites, which are lighter and more durable than aluminum and don’t corrode like metals.

Boeing has promised it will be more fuel-efficient and cheaper to maintain and offer more passenger comforts than comparable planes flying today.

MORE FROM AVIATION

Aviation Section Front

U.K. court: British Airways can bar strike Boeing has much to prove with 787 U.K. transit crews may follow British Air strike Southwest Air tops list of best places to work Mechanics target overseas airline maintenance Boeing 787 takes flight after two-year delay British Airways crew to strike over Christmas Boeing: 787’s first flight may be Dec. 15 Boeing’s delayed 747-8 completes engine test American, partners offer $1.1 billion to JAL Aviation Section Front   Add Aviation headlines to your news reader: