Boeing says delivery of first 787 may be delayed to 2011

Friday, July 16, 2010
NEW YORK (AFP) - – Aerospace giant Boeing said Thursday it might delay to 2011 the delivery of the first 787 Dreamliner aircraft scheduled at the end of this year.
"Our plan remains to deliver the 1st 787 Dreamliner at end of 2010. Although, we could see it move a few weeks into 2011," Boeing Commercial Airplanes vice-president Scott Fancher said in messages on Twitter, the micro-blogging service.
He rejected any notion that the delay was due to performance problems in long-range, wide-bodied, twin engine jetliner.
"The 787 continues to perform very well. We've found nothing in flight test to diminish our confidence in its ability," he said.
Last month, Boeing said it had detected a "workmanship issue" with the horizontal stabilizer of the Dreamliner aircraft but it expected to remain on track for its first delivery by the end of the year.
But Fancher said: "On the horizontal stabilizer issue, inspection and rework of the current 787 airplanes are complete."
The horizontal stabilizer is a component in the rear of the aircraft that is designed to stabilize it in flight. It is made by Italy's Alenia.
The aircraft's innovative structure -- 50 percent of it is made up of composite materials -- and its manufacture in more than 100 sites has created many technical problems for Boeing.
It's first flight test was held December 22, 2009, two years behind schedule.