Boeing Business Jet

Boeing 747 Update, 787 Vie For First Delivery

Boeing Co. (BA) ’s 747-8 has been slowed enough by a complex new flight-management computer system that the jumbo jet is vying for first delivery with the 787 Dreamliner, which has not progressed as far in airborne tests.

The 747-8, the newest version of Boeing’s biggest and most expensive plane , has completed more than a third of its function and reliability testing, a segment the 787 has yet to start. The 787 still has to complete a test for twin-engine extended operations that isn’t required for the four-engine jumbo.

The planes are neck-and-neck as they near their delivery targets because the 747-8’s new flight management computer is still being worked on, so it requires twice as many flight hours, Elizabeth Lund, the program chief, said in an interview this week. Boeing and its suppliers don’t get the bulk of their payments until planes are delivered.

The 747-8 freighter, which has an average list price of $319.3 million that doesn’t reflect discounts negotiated by buyers, is about a year and a half late in shipment to the launch customer, Luxembourg-based Cargolux Airlines International SA. The most recent schedule had targeted a “midyear 2011” delivery.

Executives recently began saying “summer” instead, and Boeing Commercial Airplanes President Jim Albaugh gave a third- quarter promise this week. Boeing said guidance hasn’t been changed. Still, it now matches the goal of delivering the 787 by the end of September.

It’s a “horse race” as to whether the Dreamliner or the 747-8 commence deliveries first, Albaugh said before the Paris Air Show .

The 747-8 initially suffered from a diversion of engineers to the even later 787 Dreamliner, which was originally supposed to enter service in May 2008. Since the 747-8’s maiden flight last year, Chicago-based Boeing has had to fix several problems including flutter in the wings.

Honeywell International Inc., which designed and built the computer, is doing its last testing now, and Boeing expects the flight management computer to reach final configuration next week, Lund said.

Honeywell personnel have “kept Boeing apprised of the development and certification process and continue to work closely with them to deliver this highly advanced flight management system,” Dave Douglass, vice president of Honeywell’s Boeing business segment, said in an e-mailed statement.

Reaching final configuration will let Boeing count every hour of function and reliability testing toward certification by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration , Lund said. In the more than 100 hours flown since testing began June 1, only one of every two has counted, because of the incomplete system, she said.

BBJ Offers Engine Swap Program

The first 5 customers of the 747-8 VIP jet now have the option of using loaned General Electric GEnx-2B engines that will be replaced by production-configuration models on completion, including any performance updates from GE. Named the “GE Pusher Program”, Boeing says it will reduce engine maintenance during the completion process, which can take up to 2 years.

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