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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.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Dubai's fast-growing airline Emirates kicked off the Middle East's biggest airshow Sunday with a huge order for 50 Boeing 777s, marking the U.S. aircraft maker's biggest-ever single order in dollar terms.

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.

<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>

OSHKOSH, Wis. Advertisement — A Boeing 787 Dreamliner decked out like a flying laboratory received a rousing welcome at its U.S. public debut Friday. The reception by thousands of aviation enthusiasts at the AirVenture air show rivaled the anticipation of airlines that are lined up to buy the first-of-its-kind jetliner. The Dreamliner promises to expand on the economy of jumbo jets, but in a smaller, 250-seat plane. The improvements will allow carriers to operate the 787 profitably on longer nonstop routes, such as Los Angeles to New Delhi, Boeing officials said. More than 50 airlines worldwide have placed orders for...

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...

NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. --- This summer, the huge Boeing assembly plant here will begin producing 787 Dreamliners — up to three a month, priced at $185 million apiece. It will, unless the National Labor Relations Board, controlled by Democrats and encouraged by Barack Obama’s reverberating silence, gets its way. Last month — 17 months after Boeing announced plans to build here and with the $2 billion plant nearing completion — the NLRB, collaborating with the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM), charged that Boeing’s decision violated the rights of its unionized workers in Washington state, where some Dreamliners are assembled...

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 Co.’s newest 747 passenger jet, the largest commercial plane it has ever built, took to the skies for the first time Sunday, marking the third maiden flight of a new Boeing commercial airplane in the past 15 months. (See video) Painted in its orange and red “sunrise” livery, the massive, four-engine 747-8 Intercontinental lifted off from Paine Field, north of Seattle, at 10 a.m. local time under partly cloudy skies and gusty northerly winds. At 250 feet long, the 747-8 is 18 feet longer than its predecessor.

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,...

Qatar Airways may cancel Dreamliner order, warns CEO Carrier may have ‘no alternative’ but to cancel orders if there are fresh delays, says Al Baker By Ed Attwood Sunday, 19 December 2010 Qatar Airways CEO Akbar Al Baker has said he may have no alternative but to cancel orders for the troubled Boeing 787 Dreamliner if there are further delays in its delivery. The fast-growing airline has ordered 30 787s, plus 30 more as an option, although technical and labour problems with the ultra-modern part-composite aircraft has left the jet nearly three years behind its original schedule. “We are still...

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.

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 wing of Boeing's 787 Dreamliner passed its ultimate test Sunday, bending without damage to 150 percent of the load it is ever expected to experience in service.

In 2002, Boeing executives opted for efficiency over speed in ditching the Sonic Cruiser for what became the 787 Dreamliner. So the flight-tracking Web site FlightAware provided a bit of a jolt Thursday when it reported the first 787 going supersonic above Washington.

EVERETT, Wash.—Boeing Co.'s long-delayed 787 Dreamliner made its first flight on Tuesday morning under cold, cloudy skies, marking a milestone for the company's marquee commercial jetliner program that is running more than two years behind schedule. The first Dreamliner test aircraft rolled down runway 34 Left at Paine Field at 10:28 a.m. and smoothly lifted off, heading northbound. Thousands of people, including hundreds of Boeing employees, plane enthusiasts and media, gathered at the airfield, which is also the site of Boeing's wide-body jet factory, where the Dreamliners are assembled.

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.

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.

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...

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.

FRANKFURT (Thomson Financial) - Boeing Co. faces further delays in the delivery of its B787 Dreamliner because it is unlikely to get clearance from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration on time, German weekly Focus reported, citing sources at the FAA. The so-called 'Type Certification' will not be granted before the end of 2009, possibly early 2010, and not in the third quarter of 2009 as initially projected, delaying delivery to the first customer All Nippon Airways. Boeing (nyse: BA - news - people ) plans to publish the new schedule next month, the magazine said in an excerpt of an...

The largest customer for Boeing's 787 is predicting another six-month slip in deliveries and has for the first time raised the specter that the new passenger jet's troubles extend beyond production delays to design problems. International Lease Finance Corp. (ILFC) Chairman Steven Udvar-Hazy told a JPMorgan investor conference that structural design changes have to be made to the 787's center wing box, a move that would require retrofits of the first two flight-test airplanes that are being produced. Calling the state of the program "not pretty," Udvar-Hazy said he doesn't see the 787 making its first flight until this fall...

MUMBAI: US aircraft manufacturer Boeing on Wednesday said it would compensate Air India for the delay in the delivery of Dreamliner 787 aircraft to the Indian carrier. "We will compensate Air India for the delay in the delivery of Dreamliners," Boeing Senior Vice-President Dinesh Keskar told reporters on the sidelines of an aviation summit. In 2005, the national carrier had placed orders with Boeing for 68 aircraft costing $11.6 billion. Of the 68 aircraft, 27 are Dreamliners. The first Dreamliner was scheduled to be delivered by end-this year, but the deliveries are now expected to be delayed. "There have been...

British Airways has placed a massive order of 790 planes for the new Boeing 787 Dreamliner which is yet to be launched. This is a move that should exalt the aircraft manufacturer, Boeing, and place it well beyond its European competitor, Airbus. Boeing hopes to test the 787 Dreamliner before March next year and expects to start delivering planes in December, the same year. The Boeing 787 Dreamliner is a mid-sized, wide-body, twin engine jet airliner currently in production by Boeing Commercial Airplanes and scheduled to enter service in November 2008. It will carry between 210 and 330 passengers depending...

Has the 787 flown yet, does anyone know?

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Boeing Co. said Wednesday it would delay first deliveries of its 787 Dreamliner by six months after running into assembly problems, confirming recent speculation that its ultratight testing phase would make scheduled deliveries impossible.

The Boeing Co. is delaying initial deliveries of the 787 Dreamliner by six months due to continued challenges in completing assembly of the first airplanes, the company said Wednesday. Boeing said deliveries that had been scheduled to begin next May will be pushed back to late November or December 2008. The first flight, already pushed back once from the initial target of earlier this fall, now is anticipated around the end of the first quarter of 2008.

Former CBS newsman and anchor Dan Rather, now with HDNet, will have a special report on the 787 that airs Tuesday, Sept. 18. The subject is whether new composite jets like the 787 are safe. Boeing recently completed a test in which a section of the 787 composite fuselage was dropped from a height of 15 feet to simulate a crash landing. Boeing has said the test was a success. This is part of the Associated Press story the P-I ran about that test: The Boeing Co. said Thursday that results from a recent test on a 787 fuselage section...

According to sources with direct knowledge at both ends of the major sub-assembly supply chain, temporary parts, including fasteners, are causing significant slow downs in the 787 program. The source of the slowdown in progress on Dreamliner One originated in the rush to meet the July 8th roll out. The push to achieve this milestone forced supply chain partners to use over-the-counter parts and prevented assembly teams from being able to document the location of these temporary fasteners on the first 787.

Korean Air has taken the Dreamliner Premiere to new heights. They’ve wrapped their entire headquarters building in Seoul with a giant image of a 787 taking off – in Korean Air blue – along with the words, “787 Dreamliner, Special Expectations.” And that’s no stretch. Korean Air’s headquarters will remain “wrapped” in the 787 Dreamliner through the end of the month. The wrapping project took eight days - with 20 to 30 men working each day, attaching more than 300 pieces of film onto the building’s surface. They tell me that all the pieces lined up together would stretch 2.8...

Option Helps 787 Passengers Stay Clean As A Whistle Few things can make transatlantic travel more unpleasant than a dirty lavatory with a wet floor and bad odor. Remember that Continental flight last month? Two Japanese airlines will finally be getting the lavatory luxuries they've long requested that will, hopefully, eliminate some of that. Boeing and TOTO Ltd. of Japan, in a first in air travel, have developed a bidet-style toilet to be outfitted on new Boeing 787 Dreamliners for Japan Airlines and All Nippon Airways. JAL will install them in lavatories only in premium seating areas while ANA said...

Watch the 787 rollout event live on 7/8/07 The rollout event for the 787 Dreamliner will be available for the world to view. In an unprecedented move, the event will be broadcast live via webcast in nine different languages at 3:30 p.m. PDT on Sunday, July 8 (7/8/07).

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Boeing Co. (BA.N: Quote, Profile , Research) prepared to unveil the first carbon-composite 787 Dreamliner on Sunday amid a flurry of 55 new orders for the lightweight, fuel efficient plane. European, Middle Eastern and Australian carriers trumpeted new orders at various Boeing events in Seattle, as the U.S. plane maker got ready to host 15,000 or so employees, customers and suppliers at its nearby Everett, Washington, plant. All are waiting for the first glimpse of the mid-sized, long-range jetliner, which is the company's first all-new plane in 12 years. The jet will not look radically new...

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- It won't have passenger seats, it won't fly -- in fact, it won't even motor itself down the runway. Still, when the 787 Dreamliner is unveiled at its Seattle-area factory on July 8, it will culminate an intense push by Boeing & Co. to stamp out fears its star aircraft is running into delays. The roll-out of the 787 on 07-08-07 -- billed a "premiere" by Boeing and to be hosted by former NBC journalist Tom Brokaw -- will show off the lightweight, long-range passenger aircraft with all the main parts snapped together, from carbon-fiber nose...

In what will be seen by many in the industry as a stinging rebuke for Airbus and its planned A350 jetliner, its biggest customer is expected to place an order for as many as 50 of The Boeing Co.'s 787 Dreamliners at next week's Paris Air Show, an industry source confirmed Tuesday night. ...SNIP.... ....Steve Udvar-Hazy, its founder and chief executive, told the P-I last week at an industry conference in Vancouver, B.C., that he has not been given enough details about the A350 to decide whether he wants the plane. Instead, Hazy will order additional 787s, the industry source...

Systems not installed. Workmanship issues with the horizontal stabilizer. Temporary fasteners that will have to be replaced. That's only some of what 787 workers at The Boeing Co.'s Everett plant face as the mad dash begins to get the first Dreamliner assembled and out the factory door by July 8. Judging by what one source described -- and has personally seen -- it's a good thing Boeing is prepared for the extra work that it will take to get that first plane finished on time. Boeing executives have stressed that the company has contingency plans to deal with any number...

Boeing and LOT Polish Airlines Finalize Order for One Additional 787 Dreamliner Monday February 19, 12:13 pm ET SEATTLE, Feb. 19 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Boeing (NYSE: BA - News) and LOT Polish Airlines announced today that the airline has increased its 787 Dreamliner order by one additional aircraft, bringing its total 787 order to eight airplanes. In 2005, LOT placed an order for seven 787s, with delivery positions beginning in 2008. Today's order, valued at $153 million at list prices, was booked previously on Boeing's Orders and Deliveries website, attributed to an unidentified customer. "We are delighted with the steady progress...

Boeing is sending engineering and manufacturing assistance to 787 partners Fuji Heavy Industries, Kawasaki Heavy Industries and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries in Japan as well as to Italy’s Alenia Aeronautica to aid their structural work for the aircraft. During an earnings conference call yesterday to discuss the company’s 2006 results, Boeing chief executive Jim McNerney said Boeing is putting resources at all four manufacturers to mitigate scheduling and technical risk. “I think we’ve made good progress on them [the four companies], and obviously there are flare-ups in the others [suppliers] from time to time that we address quickly,” says McNerney. He...

Boeing completed assembly of its first 787 Wednesday, and all the pieces fit together marvelously — on computers. In a display of the powerful software tools it uses on the new jet program, Boeing showed digitally generated snippets of the production process to about 3,000 employees and more than 100 visiting airline representatives. The simulation incorporates accurate digital versions of the plane's myriad pieces, testing whether the major sections built by partners around the world will fit when they arrive in the Everett final-assembly plant. "We really don't have time for them not to fit," Mark Jenks, who leads the...

Shares fall as company tries to avoid problems that could threaten jet By JAMES WALLACE P-I AEROSPACE REPORTER The Boeing Co. threw a scare into Wall Street on Wednesday when it announced it was pouring hundreds of millions of dollars more into the development of its hot-selling 787 jetliner to head off problems that could otherwise threaten the project. With the first flight less than a year away, the Dreamliner is still too heavy. And some suppliers are falling behind schedule. Boeing said it has funded a contingency plan to hire more machinists to help with 787 final assembly at...

The tremendously rich are different not only from you and me but also from the merely rich. For one thing, some of them have really nice airplanes. This is not about the presumed titans of the private jet universe like the mighty Gulfstream G5’s or Global Expresses, whose occupants can leap continents and oceans at high speed and in plush comfort, without all the inconveniences of commercial airports, airline schedules and, well, strangers. This is about big, long-haul airliners that are converted to private jets and can carry not only pampered passengers and their entourages, but also, in some cases,...

Singapore Airlines (SIA) has said it has signed a purchase agreement to buy 20 Boeing 787-9 jets with options for another 20 of the planes. The agreement confirms plans announced in June, when the carrier said it had signed a letter of intent with US manufacturer Boeing, the company said in a statement. SIA said the purchase agreement was signed last week and the planes, the latest variant of the 787 series known as the Dreamliner, should be delivered between early 2011 and mid-2013. Based on Boeing's catalogue prices, the 20 firm orders are worth 4.52 billion US dollars. SIA...

With more pre-flight orders than any widebody in history, the 787 has transformed Boeing’s fortunes. But the twinjet is a game-changer in other ways, from its technology to its design and engineering process, with the US giant integrating systems of systems from dozens of global partners. In this 30-page special, Guy Norris delivers the inside track on the programme as the 787 races to first flight next year.

WASHINGTON, Sept 13 (Reuters) - Boeing Co. (BA.N: Quote, Profile, Research) is weighing options for replacing its best-selling 737 and one scenario might include separate aircraft for two markets, the company's senior marketing official said on Wednesday. The 737 family covers the 110- to 200-seat range and is the most popular commercial plane ever with more than 5,000 produced in nearly four decades. There have been several 737 upgrades, including a major overhaul in the early 1990s. With airlines seeking variety in seating capacity and more fuel and operating efficiency, Boeing is studying how to meet expectations and continue to...