Boeing shifts 787 schedule, announces agreement with Indian firm Tata
By Staff | March 2008
Source: Boeing
The Boeing Co. (Seattle, Wash.) announced on Jan. 16 that the first flight of the 787 Dreamliner has been moved from the end of the first quarter to near the end of the second quarter of 2008 to allow additional time for assembly of the first airplane. Deliveries now are expected to begin in early 2009, rather than late 2008.
According to Scott Carson, president and CEO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes, the fundamental design and technologies used on the 787 remain sound, but the company continues to be challenged by startup issues at the company’s Everett, Wash. assembly site and throughout its extended global supply chain.
Boeing is working with its customers and suppliers to assess the impact of the schedule change on the 787’s flight test program and entry into service. Under 787 VP/GM Pat Shanahan, who assumed the 787 lead in October 2007, Boeing has assembled a team of experienced executives, business managers and planning specialists who will be on hand in Everett and in supplier/partners’ facilities, to manage the supply chain.
Meanwhile the company announced that final assembly started Feb. 15 on the second flight-test Dreamliner. “We’ve received significantly less ‘traveled work’ on this airplane,” said Steve Westby, VP of 787 final assembly and change incorporation. “The degree of completeness of sections at the partners is significantly better …. [T]his helps to bring us back into alignment with the original design of our production system.”
In another announcement, Jim Albaugh, president and CEO of Boeing Integrated Defense Systems, reported that Boeing and Tata Industries Ltd. (Mumbai, India) have agreed on a plan to form a joint-venture (JV) company that initially will perform more than $500 million (USD) of defense-related aerospace component work in India for export to Boeing and its international customers. Under the agreement, the JV will be established by June 2008, and work will begin shortly thereafter.
The Tata Group is one of India’s largest business conglomerates, with revenues in 2006-2007 of $28.8 billion (USD), the equivalent of about 3.2 percent of the country’s GDP. Tata companies employ more than 300,000 people.
Albaugh says the agreement represents another step in Boeing’s commitment to India, bringing value to India’s aerospace industry while making Boeing products more globally competitive. As it benefits from Tata’s existing manufacturing capability, Boeing intends to develop additional supply sources within the Indian manufacturing/engineering community.
In the first phase of the agreement, Boeing would potentially issue contracts for work packages involving defense-related component manufacturing on Boeing’s F/A-18 Super Hornet for the U.S. Navy and Royal Australian Air Force, CH-47 Chinook and/or P-8 Maritime Patrol Aircraft. A research and development center for advanced manufacturing technologies also is contemplated. Capabilities will eventually be leveraged across multiple Boeing programs, including the Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) competition.
“This joint venture between Tata and Boeing is an important part of our strategy to build capabilities in defense and aerospace,” said Ratan Tata, chairman of the Tata Group. “I look forward to the joint venture becoming a world-class facility in India.” Boeing has a 60-year history in India.
In December 2003, Boeing established a wholly owned subsidiary, Boeing International Corp. India Private Ltd. (BICIPL), to support the growing demands of India’s aviation, aerospace and defense industries.
