Boeing head: 787 causing 'growing pains'

RENTON, Wash., Sept. 12 (UPI) -- Flight-testing of the new 787 Dreamliner will have to "go by the books" to be delivered to Japan's All Nippon Airways Co. on time, Boeing Co.'s chairman said.

The world’s largest civil aircraft company announced a week ago it would begin flight-testing and certifying the midsize, wide-body, twin-engine jet later than planned -- between mid-November and mid-December -- but would still deliver the aircraft to All Nippon by next May.

The flight start was originally set for August and then moved to October because of assembly delays and holdups in finalizing flight-control software with Honeywell International Inc., Boeing said.

Flight-testing and certifying the 787 in fewer than six months would be more than five months less than the fastest testing and certification programs on its previous wide-body aircraft types, Air Transport World reported.

"It's an aggressive plan but it has substance to it," James McNerney said at a Morgan Stanley teleconference.

"We've had some margin (for error planned into the flight-testing program) that is now gone," he said. "Is there room for major glitches at this stage? The answer is no."

He said the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration was comfortable with the fast-track program.

McNerney acknowledged the supply chain hadn't worked as smoothly as Boeing had hoped.

"There are some (suppliers) ahead of others," he said. "We think they'll catch up. ... Are we going through growing pains? Yep."