Boeing maintains 787 delivery target despite seat and engine delays

Boeing is still expecting to reach a target of 90-100 deliveries of 787 twinjets this year, despite hold-ups in the supply chain for premium seats and engines.

The airframer delivered 15 787s over the first three months of this year.

Chief executive Kelly Ortberg, speaking during a first-quarter briefing on 22 April, said there had been “some impact” to deliveries during this period owing to delays in premium seat certification.

“We still expect to meet our full-year delivery range,” he states.

Ortberg says the airframer is working with customers and the US FAA to tackle the situation by partnering earlier in the development process and creating “contractual off-ramps” to avoid future delivery delays.

Boeing has increased the 787 production rate at the Charleston facility to eight aircraft per month, and it has stabilised at this level while the company works through supply-chain delays — including “interiors and engines”, says Ortberg.

He points out that rework hours have improved by more than 25% compared with the same period last year.

Ortberg also believes that, while the supply chain is pacing 787 production — the model does not have the benefit of an inventory buffer, unlike the 737 programme — the 787 monthly rate will increase to 10 aircraft later this year.

“We’ve done a good job of stabilising as we’ve moved from five, to seven, to eight per month,” he states. “We’ve been struggling with getting the seat certifications complete for the new cabin configuration.

“If it’s a new seating configuration — typically with doors — this has been an area [where] we’ve struggled.

“It has less impact on our factory production, because we can essentially build the airplanes. It’s that we can’t deliver them.”

Ortberg says a “fair number” of 787s have been built but are still awaiting seat certification, adding that the company needs to “[get] the pig through the python”.

“I don’t see any show-stoppers in these certifications, but it’s just taking longer than we anticipated,” he says, adding that certifications will “unlock our delivery”.

Ortberg indicates that engine supply is also a concern.

“It’s been a tough quarter in terms of engine deliveries for us,” he says. “They’ve fallen behind a little bit.

“We do have a recovery plan on engines. We’ve got to stay on that recovery plan to allow us to get to the next increase of 10 [aircraft per month].”