Boeing announce late arrival of 787 Dreamliner

Boeing said Wednesday that its 787 Dreamliner, a composite aircraft designed to cut fuel costs, is on track to be delivered to its first customers at the end of 2010, but that schedule could slip “a few weeks” and bleed into 2011.

In a statement highlighting Boeing’s second quarter earnings, the company provided the following update on the Dreamliner. Boeing said:

The 787 program continued flight test during the quarter, as a fifth airplane joined the four airplanes already in the flight test program. The Dreamliner completed key flight test milestones, including extreme weather, icing and cruise performance testing. On July 1, the program completed another key milestone with the completion of 787-9 firm configuration. First delivery continues to be planned for the end of this year, although there is added pressure to the schedule and risk that initial delivery may move a few weeks as the company completes flight test and certification requirements. Total firm orders for the 787 program at quarter-end were 863 airplanes from 56 customers.

Boeing’s Dreamliner update comes a week after a bevy of orders were announced at the 2010 Farnborough International Airshow.

Boeing’s second quarter earnings were better than expected. Boeing reported earnings of $1.06 a share, a nickel better than Wall Street estimates. Second quarter revenue of $15.57 billion was down 9.2 percent from a year ago.