Boeing Dreamliner stalled on the assembly line, again
JEREMY HOBSON: The long awaited Boeing 787 Dreamliner which was supposed to head to the skies a couple of years ago will be awaited even longer.
Vanessa Romo of KPLU in Seattle has the details.
VANESSA ROMO: This is the fifth time Boeing has stopped supply of parts to its plant in Everett, Wash. to allow workers to catch up with assembly.
Boeing spokesman, Scott Lefeber, says the delay is not uncommon in this phase of production.
SCOTT LEFEBER: Work continues in all areas of production in all airplanes.
That means carriers like All Nippon and United Airlines can still expect to receive the first new Dreamliners on time this year. The 787 is already about three years behind schedule but rival Airbus shouldn’t get too excited by this current delay says, Scott Hamilton, an aviation analyst with Leeham Company.
SCOTT HAMILTON: There’s nothing that Airbus can do to take advantage of this 30 day slow down even if it wanted to.
Airbus has its hands full with several years of production orders for its A330 — the Dreamliner’s direct competition. That means any new clients would go to the back of the line.
In Seattle, I’m Vanessa Romo for Marketplace.
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