Boeing
Warehouse code: B.A
Date found: 1916-07-15
CHAIRMAN: David Calhoun
Headquarters location: Chicago, United States
Major Product Lines: Boeing 737, Boeing 747, Boeing 757, Boeing 767, Boeing 777, Boeing 787
Company type: aircraft maker
BoeingAmerican Airlines has confirmed that it expects to deliver its first Boeing 787-8 as early as tomorrow. In a statement sent to Simple Flying today, the airline said:
“American expects to receive its first Boeing 787-8 delivery of 2022 as early as Wednesday, August 10. This will be American’s first 787 delivery since April 2021. The aircraft, registration number N880BJ, will be delivered by Charleston and is expected to begin commercial service in the coming weeks. After this delivery, American will have 47 active 787 Family aircraft in its fleet, with an additional 42 on order. We appreciate the work done by the Federal Aviation Administration and Boeing during the review process.”
There has been much speculation over the past few weeks that 787 deliveries will resume, but now it’s confirmed. To be fair, neither Boeing nor the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) officially fueled this comment. When Simple Flying contacted Boeing today about this piece, the planemaker immediately responded with its resolute statement, “We continue to work transparently with the FAA and our customers to resume 787 deliveries.” Boeing employees in Seattle, Charleston, Washington or wherever they gather around the world must be relieved that they can now proceed with the delivery of all of these stored 787s.
SIMPLEFLYING VIDEO OF THE DAY
American Airlines’ delivery is its first in 15 months
American Airlines is close to delivering its 47th Boeing 787, the first to be delivered to the airline since April 2021. Photo: Vincenzo Pace I Simple Flying
The 787-8 for American Airlines will be the first 787 delivered since Boeing retired it in May 2021. Concerns about manufacturing defects on some 787s were raised by the FAA in 2020, including the issuance of two Airworthiness Directives. Boeing resumed deliveries in March 2021 before halting again in May after the FAA raised concerns about inspection issues. At the time, the FAA said it wanted to make sure Boeing had “a robust plan for the follow-up work it needs to do on a large batch of new 787s in storage.”
That’s now done and dusted to the FAA’s satisfaction, and Boeing has the clean air it takes to push 787s out of the hangar. Boeing reportedly has around 120 completed 787s awaiting delivery, although it’s unknown how many have already been inspected under the approved plan. Now that the ball is back with Boeing, hopefully the aircraft manufacturer will announce the inspection and delivery process and a timeline for the release of the built aircraft.
Time to get back to work
Production problems at Boeing and a disruption in Dreamliner deliveries have complicated the success of the 787-9. Photo: Boeing
Boeing’s unfulfilled orders report for June 30 shows a backlog of 476,787s. The most popular type is the 787-9 with 316 in the backlog, followed by the 787-10 with 121 and the 787-8 with 39. From of the orders allocated to one customer, the larger ones are from Etihad Airways (32), Lufthansa (32), Emirates (30), American Airlines (25) and Qatar Airways (23).
One of the most vocal critics of the 787 delays has been Emirates President Tim Clark, who said earlier this year he wouldn’t be surprised if the airline removed the 787 from the mix entirely. With Qatar Airways embroiled in a legal battle over the Airbus A350, they would likely jump at the chance to take over the thirty 787s that Emirates has on order, assuming Clark still has his pessimistic view of the program.
It will be fascinating to see the liveries of the 120 undelivered 787s and how Boeing works out each airline’s place in the queue. Will Emirates come out on top?