Qantas says delays to Boeing's 787 Dreamliner are "frustrating" but still backs the aircraft to revitalise its fleet after a new delivery schedule was announced overnight.
Chief executive Alan Joyce said Qantas needed time to assess the effect of the delay, although it has already decided to lease four or five Airbus A330-200s to lessen its impact.
Boeing said the first Dreamliners would reach Japan-based airline ANA in late 2010, putting the programme more than two years behind schedule.
"This is frustrating news but not unexpected," Chief Executive Alan Joyce said in a statement.
"We now need to assess exactly what this means for our initial B787-9 deliveries and will know more in the next few months."
Qantas has 50 Dreamliners on order by 2017, after cancelling 15 in June as the economic crisis took hold.
Joyce said the planes would be used to expand budget offshoot Jetstar and to replace some of the Qantas fleet.
"We still believe the aircraft is right for us in terms of supporting Jetstar's international growth and for the replacement of the Qantas' B767 fleet," he said.
Boeing announced the fifth Dreamliner delay in June, to fix a structural problem, but had not announced a new schedule. It said the first flight was expected by the end of this year.
Qantas last week posted an 88 percent drop in annual net profit to 96.6 million US dollars and unveiled a massive cost-cutting plan to counter the financial beating.
Boeing yesterday set a new schedule for its much-delayed 787 Dreamliner program, putting the first delivery to launch customer ANA in late 2010, more than two years behind the initial timetable.
"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," Boeing said in a statement.
Boeing had announced on June 23 a fifth delay in the 787 Dreamliner program to fix a structural problem on the side of the aircraft but had not provided a new schedule.
Japan's All Nippon Airways said it was dismayed and frustrated about the latest delay to the delivery of the aircraft.
"We understand the need to make the best and safest aircraft possible and appreciate that delays due to engineering issues of the current nature must be solved in order to move forward and achieve this," ANA said in a statement.
"However, as launch customer and future operator of the 787, the length of this further delay is a source of great dismay, not to say frustration," added ANA, which has ordered 55 of the 787 Dreamliners.
Boeing launched the Dreamliner program in April 2004 and initially had planned to deliver the first airplane to ANA in the first half of 2008.
Boeing said the new schedule reflected a previously announced need to reinforce an area within the side-of-body section of the aircraft and an additional several weeks needed to reduce flight test and certification risk.
"This new schedule provides us the time needed to complete the remaining work necessary to put the 787's game-changing capability in the hands of our customers," Boeing chairman, president and chief executive Jim McNerney said.
"The news was an encouraging sign of progress for investors," Briefing.com analysts said in a client note.
Shares in Boeing soared 8.36 per cent to close at US$51.82 (A$61.62), the strongest gainer on the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average.
The highly anticipated long-haul 787 aircraft is seen as key to the US aerospace giant's future. The company says it will use 20 per cent less fuel than today's airplanes of comparable size.
Boeing is facing stiff competition in the aviation market from Airbus, a unit of the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company.
Airbus is working on a new long-range A350 plane aimed at competing with the Dreamliner and expected to fly in mid-2013.
Boeing said it has 850 orders from 56 customers for the cutting-edge plane, which it claims is the "fastest-selling all-new jetliner in aviation history."
Airline companies that have announced cancelled orders for the delay-plagued 787 include Russian carrier S7, Dubai-based aircraft leasing company LCAL and Australia's Qantas.
The 787 Dreamliner is the company's first new model in more than a decade and features 50 per cent plastic composites, compared with 12 per cent on its 777s, helping lower fuel consumption.
Boeing said the 787 program was still on track to generate profits, based on the revised schedule and other estimate updates.
But it said the first three Dreamliner airplanes to be used in the initial test flights had been modified so much they would not have commercial market value beyond the development effort.
The Chicago-based company said it would take an estimated charge of US$2.5 billion (A$2.97 billion), or US$2.21 (A$2.62) per share, against third-quarter results which are to be announced in October.
"This charge will have no impact on the company's cash outlook going forward," the company said.
AFP
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