Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner Delivery Held Back by Production Delays

Boeing Co's new 787 Dreamliner has hit a delivery block due to production delays and has revised the original dates.

Japan's All Nippon Airways (ANA) expected to receive the third plane in Dec. 2011 to use on one of its Tokyo to Beijing routes but had to reschedule it after Boeing announced the delay. The company is reportedly the latest in a series of airlines to announce delay in the Dreamliner arrival.

In a statement, ANA announced that it is extremely regrettable, but we have decided to change plans. We will do our best to ask Boeing to arrange an early reception of the aircraft.

ANA regrets to take the precaution of amending international flight plans. ANA will continue urgent negotiations with Boeing to deliver the 787 as early and as close to the original schedule as possible, the company further mentioned.

According to the Wall Street Journal, ANA's first 787 arrived in September, more than three years behind Boeing's original schedule. ANA Chief Executive Shinichiro Ito said this week that the plane was operating with few hitches in early commercial service.

ANA is not the only airline which has been facing delays in the arrival of the Dreamliner jets. The president of Japan Airlines Corp. has mentioned that they expect the first delivery to be made in February instead of December or January.

The 787 Dreamliner is a mid-size wide-body, twin-engine jet airliner that have been developed by Boeing utilizing composite materials for its construction. The company claims that the Dreamliner is its most fuel-efficient airliner consuming 20 percent less fuel than the similarly-sized Boeing 767.

Although the company plans to ramp up the production of the 787s to 10 by the end of 2013, some believe that the target rate is too high particularly viewing the current delays in the delivery schedules.