New delays loom for both Boeing Dreamliner and possibly the jumbo Airbus
Boeing has warned customers they face a 27-month delay in deliveries of its new Dreamliner jet, and Airbus has also told buyers of a fresh hitch in manufacturer of its jumbo A380, German news reports said Saturday. Boeing, was reported this week to have begun assembly of the fifth Dreamliner, a flight-test plane, with the project 15 months late. But the daily newspaper Die Welt said Saturday the US manufacturer was in deeper trouble than that with its B787 project. It said many airlines had been warned in a letter that deliveries planned after 2012 would be delayed as much as 27 months.
Approached for comment by Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa, Airbus said the A380 program was being reviewed because a key stage in the jet's manufacture, using new software to manage the wiring work, had been reached. This meant that the 26th plane to be made, the first to be have all its wiring designed by computer, would roll out late, but this did not mean the 27th would be delayed, and later jets might even be ahead of schedule. It was vital to complete the 26th perfectly as a standard for the rest. Airbus spokesman Stefan Schaffrath said in Germany he was not aware of any letter to customers about this.
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