Boeing has announced yet another delay to the delivery of the first 787 Dreamliner, with All Nippon Airlines now expected to take delivery of the aircraft in the middle of the first quarter of 2011.
In a statement, Boeing announced that the revision to the delivery date “follows an assessment of the availability of an engine needed for the final phases of flight test this fall.” The availability is likely linked to the uncontained failure of a Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 engine in a ground testbed during early August while undergoing a test run in Derby in the UK. An investigation into the failure may have impacted upon the engine’s certification, with a follow-on impact on the 787 program.
The delay comes after the company previously noted that other issues with the aircraft including supplier workmanship issues related to the horizontal stabiliser and instrumentation delays, could push first delivery of the 787 a few weeks into 2011, although officially it had been on track for a late 2010 delivery until the new announcement.
