at a time the company was hoping to finish flight- and certification-testing in order to deliver the first Dreamliner to All Nippon Airways early in 2011. Flight-testing resumed on December 23 with a 95-minute flight of ZA004.

On November 9, an small unknown object in a electrical panel is believed to have caused an electrical arc, starting the fire that led to the cessation of flight testing for the past six weeks.

While the fire was indeed a problem, the other concern was a cascade of issues that occurred with the fire, including power-distribution problems that led to the shutdown of cockpit displays and the auto throttles. Boeing says the company installed an new, interim version of software that controls the power-distribution system for the airplane.

Boeing says it will initially complete a series of tests that are part of the flight-test program, and then resume the certification testing with the Federal Aviation Administration. There are six 787s that have flown as part of the flight test program and both flight testing and certification testing is ongoing with different aircraft.

The delivery of the first 787 to an airline has been delayed six times since being first announced. When the fire occurred back in November, Boeing had said delivery would occur during the first quarter of 2011. The company has not announced a new delivery date, but it is widely expected to be later than the first quarter.

So far the six flight test aircraft (ZA001-006) have accumulated 2,399 hours during 776 flights. More than 20 other 787s have been built and are scattered around the Boeing factory at Paine Field north of Seattle.

The Seattle Times’ Dominic Gates outlines some of the issues the company faces in preparing these aircraft for delivery. Many changes have been made to the design since the airplanes rolled off the assembly line, and according to the Seattle Times story, there are still many thousands of tasks that have to be completed before they can be delivered to the airlines.

FlightBlogger Jon Ostrower takes an in depth look at the financial problems facing Boeing with the continued delays of the Dreamliner program. Ostrower provides an in-depth look at the complicated financial picture that was used to sell a record number of airliners before the 787 even made its first flight a little more than a year ago. He follows up with the financial issues the company is likely to face in the coming years with a back log of more than 840 Dreamliners that are on order.

Several airlines with 787s on order are worrying about how the current delay and any future delays may affect their plans to implement the all new composite airliner. Air New Zealand told Aviation Week & Space Technology further delays of the Dreamliner program will likely affect its plans to begin flying all new routes with the efficient new plane.

Boeing says with the return to flight testing the company will determine the pace at which they will be able to continue and develop a new program schedule accordingly. In a statement, Boeing said they expect to complete the assessment of the program schedule in january.

Photo: Boeing

Authors: Jason Paur

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