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A Boeing 787 jet took corporate loyalty to new heights when it "drew" the letters "787" followed by the company's logo across several thousand miles of North American skies. The etching of the letters and logo, while not visible from the ground, can be seen in the flight path plans.

Boeing and its Machinists' union have struck a deal that both settles the controversial National Labor Relations Board lawsuit and keeps the new 737 production line in Washington, the Seattle Times is reporting, citing unnamed sources. According to the report, the union will announce the agreement momentarily, at a 2 p.m. EST news conference. The agreement is huge news for South Carolina as Boeing's North Charleston plant had been at the center of the NLRB case. While the terms of the deal have not been announced, it would seem the Dreamliner production facility by Charleston International Airport is now in...

After a delay of more than three years, Boeing's much-hyped newest jet, the 787, made its first commercial flight from Tokyo to Hong Kong -- and landed on-time. The All Nippon Airways flight was packed mostly with aviation reporters and enthusiasts, some of whom paid thousands of dollars for the privilege and treated the experience like a rock concert, clapping after lift-off and snapping photos for posterity.

As Japan welcomes the first Boeing 787, the world's largest carrier is patiently and anxiously waiting for its order. Jeff Smisek, head of the parent company for United and Continental airlines, on Thursday said he was last told by Boeing that the first of the 50 aircraft ordered by the company will be delivered to have in service in the second half of 2012. "We ordered that aircraft in December 2004. So I've been a very patient person," said Smisek, the president and CEO of United Continental Holdings Inc.

Aluminium has been the standard material used in aircraft for more than a century - even the Wright brothers' famous first flight in 1903 used an aircraft made partially from the metal. But the 'aluminium age' could be about to end - with the delivery of the first large-scale commercial aircraft made using 50 per cent 'composite materials' including plastics and carbon fibre. The much-delayed Boeing Dreamliner 787 has a range of 10,000 miles, is far quieter than ordinary jets, and is constructed using a 'moulding' process that has eliminated 1,500 aluminum sheets and 50,000 fasteners. It's also three years...

EVERETT, Wash. (AP) -- After nearly two years of flight tests and analysis, the Federal Aviation Administration on Friday cleared the way for the new Boeing 787 to take its first commercial flight. Boeing plans to deliver the first 787 to Japan's All Nippon Airways next month -- more than three years later than initially planned. The airline plans to fly it for the first time as a charter on Oct. 26 and begin regular service Nov. 1. Both the FAA and European regulators certified the plane for flight. Boeing completed flight tests on the 787 this month. The Chicago...

<p>After years of setbacks and delays, the Boeing 787 Dreamliner was certified Friday by the U.S. government as safe and ready to fly passengers.</p> <p>The official FAA certification was announced at a ceremony at the Boeing site in Everett, just a few weeks before the first scheduled delivery of the airliner to Japan's All Nippon Airways on Sept. 28. The aircraft was also certified by the European Aviation Safety Agency.</p>

The Federal Aviation Administration has cleared the way for the new Boeing 787 to take its first commercial flight. Both the FAA and European regulators certified the plane for flight on Friday. Boeing plans to deliver the first 787 to Japan's All Nippon Airways in September. The airline plans to fly it for the first time as a charter on Oct. 26 and begin regular service Nov. 1. Delivery is about three years late.

Boeing has completed certification flight testing for the first delivery variant of its 787, finishing more than 4,800 hours and more than 25,000 test conditions. Aircraft ZA102, operating as flight BOE102 with 14 aboard, completed its final scheduled systems function and reliability (F&R) flight trials at 13:58 local time on 13 August, clearing the way for final certification documentation submittals to the US Federal Aviation Administration. The final day of certification flight trials for Boeing's first 787 variant with Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 Package A engines brought the aircraft to Salt Lake City, Utah and Billings, Montana before returning to Paine...

House Republicans are fighting back against President Obama’s misuse of administrative power to punish right-to-work states. On Tuesday, Rep. Tim Scott introduced legislation to protect a Boeing 787 Dreamliner production plant in his South Carolina district from the outrageous complaint filed by pro-union thugs at the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). The agency wants to force the airline manufacturer to close up operations in Charleston and move the jobs to Puget Sound, where the labor bosses reign, because setting up in South Carolina was allegedly an example of “unfair labor practices.” The Job Protection Act would, if enacted, clarify that...

The National Labor Relations Board’s (NLRB) decision to issue a complaint regarding the Boeing facility in South Carolina is a poorly veiled act of revenge against a company that refused to let Big Labor bosses decide its future. As seemingly ridiculous and unbelievable as the attack on the part of the U.S. Government against an American corporation seeking to create jobs at home is, the consequences that this precedent sets for businesses and their right to work is downright dangerous. The case in question came up when, Boeing, after negotiations with their union in Washington State broke down, decided to...

The Senate’s top Democrat on Wednesday harshly condemned what he said were “inappropriate” attempts by Republican lawmakers to intervene in a controversial labor dispute now before the National Labor Relations Board. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Nevada Democrat, said the GOP moves were an attempt to “poison the decision-making process” in the increasingly bitter dispute over plans by aerospace giant Boeing Co. to open a major new, nonunion manufacturing plant for its premier 787 Dreamliner fleet in South Carolina. The NLRB, in a move that has outraged leading business groups and South Carolina officials, has issued a complaint about the...

Business leaders and Republican politicians accused President Barack Obama on Tuesday of punishing GOP states by trying to block Boeing from opening a major aircraft plant in South Carolina. South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley said the National Labor Relations Board’s move to compel Boeing to build a second 787 Dreamliner factory at its hub in Everett, Wash., should alarm all governors and state leaders. The NLRB’s top lawyer, Lafe Solomon, filed a case in April charging Boeing with union- busting and retaliating for past strikes at its Puget Sound facilities in deciding to locate the Dreamliner assembly line in South...

Washington (CNN) – South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and a group of Republican senators demanded Tuesday that the Obama administration weigh in on the National Labor Relations Board's complaint against Boeing, saying the complaint could jeopardize thousands of South Carolina jobs and the future of free enterprise in the country. The NLRB's complaint alleges that Boeing decided to build a new 787 Dreamliner plant in South Carolina, a so-called "right-to-work" state, in retaliation against union workers in Washington state who had engaged in past strikes. The NRLB's Acting General Counsel Lafe Solomon is seeking an order to keep that production...

Boeing illegally put its second 787 Dreamliner assembly line in South Carolina in retaliation for strikes in Washington and should be required to build the line in Washington, according to a National Labor Relations Board complaint filed Wednesday. The board's acting general counsel filed the complaint in response to a charge that the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers union District 751, backed by the national union, filed on March 29, 2010. A board administrative law judge is scheduled to hear the case on June 14. The complaint says Boeing executives "made coercive statements to its employees that it...

Boeing (NYSE: BA) announced today that it expects delivery of the first 787 Dreamliner in the third quarter of this year. The new delivery date reflects the impact of an in-flight incident during testing last November and includes the time required to produce, install and test updated software and new electrical power distribution panels in the flight test and production airplanes. "This revised timeline for first delivery accommodates the work we believe remains to be done to complete testing and certification of the 787," said Scott Fancher, vice president and general manager of the 787 program. "We've also restored some...

Inside: - How the 787 backlog was built - Predicable costs at 787's foundation - Scott Carson's ascent - Can the 787-9 undo the damage? - Looking at 17 787's per month - The revival of the 787-10 - Redrawing the supply chain lines Data obtained by FlightBlogger show Boeing's historic order backlog for the 787 was based partly on steep discounts driven by now-discarded design and manufacturing assumptions. Cost overruns, penalty payments and supply chain changes adopted in the last two years will force Boeing to achieve unprecedented cost-savings for the widebody to turn a profit even after delivering...

Even as Boeing continues to struggle with the 787-8 program, future planning calls for resurrecting plans for the 787-10 that have been on indefinite hold while working through technical issues and delays of the current model. Airbus has sold more A330s since the 787 program was announced than in the period leading up to the 787's launch. The A330-200 has been improved to now have an advertised 7,200nm range-nearly matching the low-end of the 787-8, according to Airbus estimates-and the A330-300 now has a 5,850nm range with more improvements planned to provide a few hundred miles more range. Nicole Piasecki,...

As Boeing prepares to announce yet another delay for the 787 Dreamliner — at least three months, possibly six or more — the crucial jet program is in even worse shape than it appears. The problems go well beyond the latest setback, an in-flight electrical fire last month that has grounded the test planes.

Union Boeing engineers want the plane maker to use the latest delay in its 787 Dreamliner program to reevaluate what the union called a failed outsourcing strategy. Specifically, the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace board Thursday voted unanimously to urge Boeing to use the delay to evaluate parts coming from suppliers and, where appropriate, bring back work that is better performed by Boeing employees. "The outsourcing model has not worked," SPEEA President Tom McCarty said in a news release. "Recently, we've seen a few indications the company wants to reemphasize engineering. SPEEA members have the ability and experience...

Boeing Co. said Wednesday that some kind of foreign debris probably caused the electrical fire aboard a test flight for one of its new 787s earlier this month. The company said is making "minor design changes" to the plane's power-distribution panels and is working on a plan to resume test flights of the much-delayed plane.

A serious in-flight fire in the electric equipment bay of a Boeing 787 Dreamliner flight test plane forced an emergency landing in Laredo, Texas, Tuesday. All aboard were safely evacuated on slides. The fire affected the cockpit controls and the jet lost its primary flight displays and its auto-throttle, according to a person familiar with the incident. The flight and engine controls, which on the Dreamliner are all-electric, weren't fully functional, this person said. A small emergency power generator called the Ram Air Turbine (RAT) that typically kicks in only when both primary and auxiliary power sources are lost was...

The World Trade Organization on Wednesday faulted the European Union for providing cheap loans to Airbus to help lower its cost for developing new airplanes and take market share from Boeing Co. It's a clear victory for the Chicago-based manufacturer, providing the company with precedence to disrupt similar funding for the up-and-coming A350XWB, which will compete with its 787 Dreamliner. It could also help the company to score a $35 billion U.S. contract to replace the military's aging aerial-refueling fleet. "The ruling shows the WTO works and it can understand the aerospace industry," said Teal Group analyst Richard Aboulafia, who...

Boeing (NYSE: BA) announced today that all test requirements were successfully met during the 787 Dreamliner’s ultimate load wing and fuselage bending test. This follows a thorough analysis of the results from a test on the 787 static test airframe. “Successfully completing this test is a critical step in the certification of the 787. This is further validation that the 787 performs as expected, even in the most extreme circumstances,” said Scott Fancher, vice president and general manager of the 787 program for Boeing Commercial Airplanes. On March 28, loads were applied to the test unit to replicate 150 percent...

Jan. 14 (Bloomberg) -- Boeing Co.’s test-program manager says the new 787 Dreamliner has exceeded his expectations in the first month of flying and he’s ready to take on the next challenge, the maiden flight of the 747-8 jumbo jet.

Senator Patty Murray (Wa). just said on TV of how proud she was for 1st Boeing 787 flight, Boeing employees and asked how Alabama could size up to that? What does that mean? Did she mean to refer to S. Carolina?

Boeing released the first artist's conception of what it then called the 7E7 on Jan. 29, 2003. The company's board green-lighted the project that December and Japan's All Nippon Airways placed the jet's launch order on April 26, 2004, with first deliveries expected in 2008. Boeing now has orders for 840 787 Dreamliners -- a record for a new aircraft. And Tuesday's scheduled first flight is key to showing the composite jet is on track for delivery to All Nippon Airways in the fourth quarter of 2010 and other customers soon after that. That delivery date, however, depends on an...

Boeing's busy day on the ground kicked off at 6:30 AM with a flight readiness review that finalized receipt of the Experimental Airworthiness Certificate from the FAA. This regulatory clearance now puts the 787, with clearance to operate Part 91 operations, the same regulatory category as aircraft like the Cessna 172. Once the Experimental Airworthiness Certificate had been obtained, the aircraft was cleared for final taxi tests.

Boeing said Thursday evening that the first flight of its 787-8 long-range jet is set for 10 a.m., Dec. 15 in Everett, Wash. The first of six test airplanes, ZA001, is due to take off from Payne Field next to the airplane's final assembly factory north of Seattle. Chief Pilot Michael H. Carriker and copilot Randall Neville will conduct low- and high-speed taxi tests that take the airplane to the threshold of flight in preparation for Tuesday's events. Once airborne, Carriker and Neville are not expected to return ZA001 to Everett. They will land at Boeing Field in Seattle, headquarters...

Boeing plans to make all the parts for the 787 Dreamliner currently produced in the Puget Sound region at a second location so that the second final assembly line being set up in North Charleston, S.C., can operate independently.Local Boeing workers have long complained that only the vertical tail fin of the 787 Dreamliner is built in the Puget Sound region. But now even that small claim to uniqueness is going to be shared, as Boeing continues to turn the screws on the Machinists union after their two-month strike in 2008. The company said Monday it plans to use suppliers...

Dow Jones)--Boeing Co. on Wednesday announced it would build a second final assembly line for its troubled 787 Dreamliner jet in South Carolina, a move that spurns the powerful aircraft machinists' union that had been negotiating with Boeing to locate the work at the current factory near Seattle. Boeing has been laying the groundwork for a new factory in South Carolina for months and could begin construction at a facility it owns in North Charleston, S.C., as early as Nov. 2. The factory is expected to be operational by July 2011.

Just announced KING5 news, waiting for link...

So Boeing is threatening to jilt us (again). To run out on our nine decades of marriage with someone smarter? Better? More reliable? Nope. With someone cheaper. Take away the heat, all the union-bashing or management second-guessing as Boeing now appears ready to move a major piece of its plane-building operations to South Carolina. At the core of this breakup drama is a cold statistic: 14. As in $14. Per hour. That's the average pay of the local line workers who are building the fuselage of Boeing's 787 Dreamliner in a Charleston, S.C., plant. Average pay of a Boeing Machinist...

Discussions between the Machinists union and Boeing over the second 787 production line for Everett are effectively dead, according to a person familiar with the negotiations. Boeing now appears close to choosing Charleston, S.C., as the location of the second line. The person close to the negotiations said an announcement could come within days. Boeing management has turned down further talks over the potential 10-year no-strike agreement the company had sought, the person said. "The union wants to continue talking," said this source, who is not aligned with the union. "The Boeing Co. does not want to talk any further....

The Boeing board of directors met Monday in Chicago without reaching a decision on siting a second 787 production line, as efforts continued to resolve an impasse in the high-stakes talks between the Machinists union and the company. If the Machinists and Boeing can't agree on a 10-year no-strike deal that would land the second production line in Everett, the company is threatening to put it in Charleston, S.C. The company released no information on the board's discussion about the second 787 line, but sources confirmed there was no decision. In phone calls over the weekend, Gov. Christine Gregoire and...

CHARLESTON, S.C. — Behind closed doors, business and local government leaders in South Carolina are working to deliver an electrifying jolt to the economy of this genteel city — at the expense of Washington state. Already the site of side-by-side factories that produce two thirds of the fuselage for Boeing's 787 Dreamliner, Charleston is in a tight race with Everett to be the location of a second final-assembly line for the new jet. "It's a huge deal," said Pat Barber, a well-connected Charleston businessman who owns a trucking company that specializes in oversize loads and could win a lot of...

Boeing and the Machinists union are far apart in secret negotiations over a proposed no-strike agreement that would ensure a second 787 final assembly line goes to Everett instead of Charleston, S.C.Secret talks have been going on for weeks in Washington, D.C., and Chicago between Boeing and the Machinists union, with top leaders negotiating over a proposed no-strike agreement that would ensure a second 787 final-assembly line goes to Everett instead of Charleston, S.C. But less than a week ahead of a Boeing board meeting to discuss the choice, the labor talks are deadlocked and hindered by distrust on each...

Boeing will decide in the next two weeks whether to put a second 787 Dreamliner final assembly line in Everett or in Charleston, S.C.Boeing has narrowed its decision on where to put a second 787 Dreamliner final assembly line to Everett and Charleston S.C., and will make a choice within the next two weeks. The outcome could have a profound impact on where future Boeing airplanes are built, and the key question appears to be whether the Machinists union will accede to management's demand for a long-term no-strike agreement. In a conference call with the press this morning, chief executive...

CHICAGO, Aug. 27 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The Boeing Company (NYSE: BA) today announced that the first flight of the 787 Dreamliner is expected by the end of 2009 and first delivery is expected to occur in the fourth quarter of 2010. The new schedule reflects the previously announced need to reinforce an area within the side-of-body section of the aircraft, along with the addition of several weeks of schedule margin to reduce flight test and certification risk. The company projects achieving a production rate of 10 airplanes per month in late 2013. "This new schedule provides us the time needed to...

The structural flaw that delayed the first flight of the 787 Dreamliner is more complex than originally described by the company, and the plane's inaugural takeoff is likely at least four to six months away, say two engineers with knowledge of Boeing's problem. "It's got to take at least three to four months just to get something installed on an airplane," said a structures engineer who has been briefed on the issue. "It's definitely a costly fix to go and do this work."

QANTAS has cancelled orders for 15 Boeing 787 Dreamliners and deferred the delivery of a further 15 aircraft, due to turbulent conditions. The airline said it delayed by four years delivery of 15 Boeing 787-8 aircraft and cancelled orders for 15 787-9 aircraft that were scheduled for delivery in 2014-15. The delay and cancellation in the orders "were appropriate in the current climate, and discussions with Boeing, which commenced some months ago, had not been influenced by the announcement this week of a design issue and further delay to the aircraft's first flight," said Qantas chief executive Officer Alan Joyce......

The structural flaw that has grounded Boeing's 787 Dreamliner will likely add months of delay to the new jet program, an executive with one of Boeing's key Japanese partners said Wednesday. Kiyotaka Ichimaru, an executive at the aerospace division of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI), which makes the 787's carbon-fiber composite plastic wings in Japan, also said the problem announced Tuesday stems from Boeing's engineering design, not MHI's — an assessment confirmed by Boeing. Ichimaru said MHI engineers are drawing upon the experience of similar problems on the Mitsubishi F-2 jet-fighter program in working with Boeing to fix the problem: a...

Before the markets opened Tuesday morning, Boeing issued a shock announcement that the first flight of the 787 Dreamliner has been postponed again. The company cited a structural defect prompting "a need to reinforce an area within the side-of-body section of the aircraft." Though Boeing chief executive Scott Carson is quoted in the statement saying that "structural modifications like these are not uncommon in the development of new airplanes," the issue appears serious. Adding to the impact of the delay is uncertainty: Boeing said it will be "several weeks" before it will even come up with a new schedule.

After two years of costly and embarrassing delays, the first flight of Boeing's new 787 Dreamliner is on track for the end of June. When the 787 does lift off, Boeing officials hope it takes the company's stock with it. > “They've still got credibility issues, and there's an awful lot of people with a wait-and-see attitude,” Aboulafia said, adding that key airline customers remain dubious about the 787s weight and performance on the first six airplanes under production. “There are good reasons to be cautious about the 787,'' Aboulafia said. “The problem was they've been overly optimistic in their...

As far back as May of last year, Boeing publicly discussed that the brake control system was a key pacing item for the 787 program. Tracing the evolution of this issue, which Crane and Boeing have stated is resolved, today we find Crane announcing they need to develop a new version of the software, potentially for the 787-9, later blockpoint 787-8s, or even an additional evolution for initial certification. The recipient of the new software is unclear at this point, but it certainly something to be aware of moving forward. ... Crane Co. CEO Eric Fast - February 18, 2009:...

BOEING is inching closer to the long-overdue first flight of its 787....with the successful completion of the "high blow" high-pressure test on the static test airframe... The high blow test is one of three static tests that must be cleared before the first flight.... During the high blow test, air pressure in the airframe was increased to an internal pressure of 150 per cent of the maximum level expected in service: 14.9lb per square inch (1.05kg/cm) gauge. /cut/ "Still, it's very rewarding to see a whole airplane being tested and having the results we expected," he said. /cut/ The static...

WICHITA, Kan. — Almost a year ago in Everett, Boeing's 787 Dreamliner No. 1 rolled out with an impressive exterior but completely empty inside. At the sprawling Spirit AeroSystems plant here Thursday, the cockpit door inside the 42-foot-long front section of Dreamliner No. 4 opened to reveal a finished flight deck. Though it's only the front of the plane, it seemed almost ready for takeoff.

The aging planes of United, American, and Delta guzzle more gas and make the U.S. carriers more vulnerable to soaring oil prices—and to their global competitors For a look at one of the biggest headaches facing U.S. airlines, head out to Paris' Charles de Gaulle airport any day and watch the big jets taking off for the U.S. There goes United Airlines to Chicago, American Airlines to Boston, Delta Air Lines to Atlanta, and Air France to New York's John F. Kennedy airport. What's the big deal? Many of the U.S. carriers' planes are Boeing 767s, a model that dates...

Although The Boeing Co.'s 787 Dreamliner may be only 15 months or so behind schedule, delivery delays will be as much as twice that long for some customers that bought the fuel-efficient composite jet. The extent of the delivery delays, which likely will cost Boeing several billion dollars in penalty payments, became more apparent Thursday when two important 787 customers disclosed just how late their planes will be. In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the parent of International Lease Financial Corp., the biggest customer for the 787 with 74 on order, disclosed that its planes will be...

Air Canada will have to wait at least two years longer than originally expected to take delivery of its first 787 Dreamliner, the airline revealed on Thursday. The Boeing Co. has told Air Canada that it will deliver the first of the 37 aircraft it has on order at least 24 to 30 months later than the carrier had previously expected, at the earliest in January 2012. Air Canada will be seeking compensation from Boeing for the delays, Montie Brewer, Air Canada chief executive, told a conference call on Thursday. In April, Boeing announced that the first deliveries of the...