Due to delay in getting a Rolls-Royce engine for the new largest commercial plane needed for the final phases of a flight test this fall, the Boeing Co. reported Friday that it would push the expected delivery of its first 787 Dreamliner to the middle of the first quarter of 2011.
The Chicago-based airliner maker blamed the delay on not being able to get a Rolls-Royce engine.
In its statement, Boeing mentioned that the cumulative impact of a series of issues, including supplier workmanship issues related to the horizontal stabilizer and instrumentation delays could push first delivery of the 787 aircraft a few weeks into the next year.
Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 engine set to power the 787 as well as the Airbus SAS A350. Recently Rolls-Royce closed its test facility in Derby, England, for what it called minor repairs earlier this month after a $17 million engine failed on a test bed and sent out debris.
Boeing is using Rolls-Royce engines in four of its six flight test aircraft. General Electric supplies its GEnX engines for the remaining two 787 flight test aircraft, the Boeing spokesman said. Despite it sales of aircraft grow 2010.
Msn/Reuters
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