Boeing 787 Dreamliner no longer to be a dream

27 Sep 11

Boeing is scheduled to make the initial delivery of its 787 Dreamliner to All Nippon Airways Co. of Japan, following 3 years of delays and postponements.
 
The Dreamliner, a twin-aisle, mid-size, fuel-efficient craft constructed from lightweight composite materials, will be presented to the Japanese carrier in the US, before being flown to Tokyo on Wednesday.

"We’ve developed a set of technologies that will serve as the backbone of our airplanes for the next 30 years,” Scott Fancher, the 787 program chief, told reporters in Everett.

Boeing contemplates manufacturing 10 such planes per month starting in 2013.

At the moment, the company is producing about 2.5 planes per month. According to reports, Boeing has 821 orders from 52 customers for the aircraft.

Australia’s involvement in the global aerospace sector is small by global comparison but is characterised by the use of Australia’s core engineering talents that Australia is globally recognised for.

The Australian aerospace sector has endured somewhat of a bumpy ride over recent times firstly with delays to the Airbus A380 program for which Australia supplies key airframe components and the aforementioned delays to the Boeing 787 Dreamliner program for which Boeing Australia is a key designer and manufacturer of the moveable trailing edges of the aircraft.

Boeing is the world’s largest combined manufacturer of commercial and military aircraft and Boeing’s presence in Australia is the company’s largest footprint outside the United States. The company’s seven wholly owned subsidiaries are overseen by Boeing Australia Holdings Pty Ltd, which was established to consolidate and co-ordinate Boeing’s businesses in Australia.

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Boeing has been in Australia for more than 80 years, commencing with the establishment of Hawker de Havilland (now Boeing Aerostructures Australia). Boeing Australia employs around 3,500 people and in the last 10 years alone has invested more than A$350 million in local facilities, plant, equipment and the training of employees, more than A$200 million in local research and development. Boeing has exported from Australia more than A$2.5 billion worth of complex aerostructure components and has been actively involved in supporting local technical education.

Boeing's first delivery of the 787 Dreamliner and full production from 2013 can only mean good news for Boeing's local operation and the second tier manufacturers who are involved in the project.

This article contains excerts from the AMTIL - The Source publication.

http://www.amtil.com.au/pdf/AMTIL-The_Source_Brochure_and_Booking_Form.pdf