Boeing delivers biggest 747 to secret VIP buyer

Tue, Feb 28 19:49 PM EST
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By Bill Rigby and Kyle Peterson

SEATTLE (Reuters) - Boeing Co handed over the first passenger version of its upgraded and extended 747 to a secret VIP customer, who sent the gleaming, all-white plane along to a modification center to transform it into the "jewel of the sky."

The delivery of the 747-8 Intercontinental - Boeing's largest and most recognizable commercial airplane - caps a development delay of more than a year.

Boeing, the world's second-largest plane-maker marked the milestone with an understated ceremony, keeping the media at arm's length to safeguard the identity of its customer, thought by industry insiders to be the state of Qatar.

"The 747 is the most iconic airplane in the world, and I know customers are going to love what we've done to enhance its performance," Jim Albaugh, president and chief executive of Boeing Commercial Airplanes, said in a statement.

"The Intercontinental is fast, efficient and quiet, offering real savings and a great flying experience," he said.

Boeing, which competes for orders with rival Airbus, has taken 36 orders - nine from non-airline customers - for the aircraft, which lists at $332.9 million. The airplane is more than 12 months behind its initial delivery schedule and some experts say the order book is puny.

The Intercontinental is an elongated, upgraded version of the classic 747, which first flew more than 40 years ago. The 747 was the world's largest airplane until 2005, when Airbus unveiled its A380.

Only one A380 has been ordered by a wealthy individual, Saudi billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal.

"The 747-8 has been slow to take off, and the success of the aircraft is still questionable given so few orders," said Alex Hamilton, an aerospace analyst and managing director at EarlyBirdCapital.

Boeing had delayed the delivery to 2012 from the fourth quarter of 2011. The company blamed delays in flight testing and the time required to incorporate flight-test driven changes.

A delay of a year or more is not unusual for modern commercial plane launches. Both Airbus' massive A380 and Boeing's carbon-composite 787 suffered multi-year delays.

Boeing does not identify VIP customers, but past buyers of customized planes have been multimillionaires and heads of state.

The first airline set to receive the plane is Germany's Deutsche Lufthansa AG, which has ordered 20. Boeing has not set a delivery date for Lufthansa's first Intercontinental.

EXTENSIVE MODIFICATIONS

VIP customers for planes as large as the 747 often request extensive modifications such as bedrooms or bathrooms to accommodate the special needs of the primary passengers and their entourages. These modifications typically are done outside of Boeing, but the company must sign off on the changes.

Boeing Business Jets president Steve Taylor, who was set to fly the airplane from Paine Field near Seattle, said it will spend about six months at Boeing's Wichita facility - the plant that modified Air Force One - for basic modifications.

From there it goes to a facility in Hamburg where it will spend two years receiving customer-specific outfitting like bedrooms, dining rooms and galleys, he said.

Taylor said the unnamed customer wants the new Intercontinental to be the "jewel of the sky."

The Intercontinental incorporates some of the technology of the lightweight, carbon-composite 787 Dreamliner. It can seat 467 passengers, 51 more than the current version of the 747, but fewer than the competing 525-seat A380.

By some estimates, the new 747-8 is 8 to 10 tonnes overweight. Elizabeth Lund, 747 program manager, acknowledged the plane is heavier than originally planned. But she said a redesigned wing makes up for the weight in terms of performance.

Additional weight can reduce the distance a plane can fly or the amount of cargo it can carry.

Boeing said the plane would meet the original performance commitments it made in the sale catalog by 2014.

The freighter version of the 747-8 was first delivered in October. Orders for the freighter have been strained by an economic downturn that has dampened cargo markets.

Boeing delivered its first 787 Dreamliner last year after three years of delays. The 787 represents a bigger leap in technology than the 747-8.

(Reporting by Bill Rigby in Seattle and Kyle Peterson in Chicago; Additional reporting by Tim Hepher in Paris; Editing by Maureen Bavdek, Tim Dobbyn and Carol Bishopric)

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Boeing exec: 787 long-term build rate on track
Fri, Mar 02 18:27 PM EST

By Bill Rigby

SEATTLE (Reuters) - Boeing Co will build 10 787 Dreamliners per month by the end of 2013, the head of the plane-maker's commercial airplanes division said on Friday, shrugging off industry concerns that a glitch in the fuselage will put the goal out of reach.

"It shouldn't," Jim Albaugh said on the sidelines of an event marking the 1,000th delivery of Boeing's widebody 777. Dubai-based Emirates Airline will receive the plane this month.

Last month, the world's second-largest commercial plane-maker after EADS unit Airbus, reported signs of "delamination" on the rear fuselage of some 787s. Delamination occurs when repeated stress causes laminated composite materials to separate.

Boeing has said the problem would affect the first 55 787s that were assembled but that the issue is now contained and will not be repeated. The company says the repair will take 10 to 14 days per plane, but will be done concurrently with other work.

"It's going to have a short-term impact on production and deliveries, but we think for the year we'll be in good shape," Albaugh said.

The light-weight, carbon-composite Dreamliner is popular among airline customers, which have ordered about 870. The plane, which entered commercial service last year, is about three years behind its original schedule.

The company said it increased the 787 production rate to 3.5 per month from 2.5 on Thursday. Boeing has delivered only five 787s so far, all to its launch customer All Nippon Airways. The company delivered no 787s in February.

Last week, Boeing swapped the heads of its 787 Dreamliner and 777 programs, in hopes that the long-time 777 leader Larry Loftis can keep the Dreamliner production rate on track.

Boeing is raising production rates on all of its commercial airplane programs to meet increased demand.

The 777 production rate went up from five to seven per month in 2011 and is headed to 8.3 in the first quarter of 2013. Boeing, meanwhile, intends to update the popular 777 but has not disclosed specific plans.

Highness Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al-Maktoum, chairman and chief executive of Emirates Airline & Group, said at the Boeing celebration that he would be "very interested" in the next version of 777.

When asked when the new version of the 777 would be in service, Albaugh said: "We're talking late in the decade."

According to Boeing's website on Friday, Emirates has taken delivery of 53 777s and has another 86 on order. Boeing has 373 unfilled orders for 777s on its books.

(Reporting By Bill Rigby in Seattle and Kyle Peterson in Chicago. Editing by Gunna Dickson)

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Boeing has inspected five 787s for fuselage flaw
Mon, Mar 05 17:50 PM EST
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SEATTLE (Reuters) - Boeing Co has inspected five 787 Dreamliners for a recently discovered flaw in the fuselage and remains on track to build 10 of the airplanes per month by the end of 2013, the new head of Boeing's 787 program said on Monday.

The plane maker is inspecting the first 55 787s built before the problem was discovered and will repair them as needed, Larry Loftis told Reuters before a groundbreaking ceremony for a new delivery center at Boeing Commercial Airplanes.

"We will touch every single airplane," said Loftis, the former leader of Boeing's successful 777 airplane program.

The Dreamliner is the world's first commercial airplane with an airframe made largely of light-weight carbon composites. It boasts unprecedented fuel-efficiency and is a hit among customers who have ordered about 870 of the planes.

However, the plane is about three years behind its original development and production schedule. The Dreamliner's development was disrupted several times by problems with suppliers, such as a delay in the availability of a Rolls-Royce engine needed for the final phases of flight testing.

Boeing, the world's second-largest commercial plane-maker after EADS unit Airbus, made first delivery of a Dreamliner last year to All Nippon Airways and is ramping up the production rate to 10 per month, a target many experts believe to be unattainable.

Last month, Boeing reported signs of "delamination" on the rear fuselage of some 787s. Delamination occurs when stress causes layered composite materials to separate.

Boeing has said it will take 10 to 14 days per plane to repair. The problem caused some experts to again question the production rate target. Boeing has said the repair may affect deliveries in the first part of 2012, but not in the longer term.

The company increased the 787 production rate to 3.5 per month from 2.5 last week. The plane-maker has delivered only five 787s so far, all to All Nippon Airways, and delivered none in February.

Last month, Boeing swapped the heads of its 787 Dreamliner and 777 programs, in hopes that the long-time 777 leader Loftis can keep the Dreamliner production rate on track.

Boeing is raising production rates on all of its commercial airplane programs to meet increased demand.

(Reporting By Laura Myers in Seattle; Writing by Kyle Peterson; Editing by Tim Dobbyn)

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