Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION

787 Dreamliner finally ready for flight testing

THE first edition of Boeing's oft-delayed quieter, lighter, energy-efficient commercial jet, the 787 Dreamliner, has left the Seattle factory floor.

Randy Tinseth, Boeing Commercial Airplanes' vice-president of marketing, said Friday, "The airplane went from the factory to flight-test facility on Sunday. We are going to fly the plane this quarter."

Tinseth, in Winnipeg this week for the Western Aerospace Alliance conference, said Boeing's commercial plane business is expecting a good year in 2009, despite the global recession and a lengthy strike last year.

Boeing's Winnipeg plant makes composite parts for all of Boeing's commercial planes, including the 787.

Tinseth said the global aerospace giant is on schedule to produce 480 to 485 commercial jets this year.

He said the company will cut back on its 777 production rate in 2010 and cancelled plans to increase production of the 767 and 747, but he said Boeing has an order backlog of 3,600 planes, which translates into seven and a half years of production.

Tinseth said although there have been some cancellations because of the production delays on the 787, it has 861 of the new planes on order.

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition May 9, 2009 B7

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