Posts Tagged ‘Boeing 787’
Boeing share prices crater as debut flight postponed for 5th time
Back into the garage, again…
Daylife/Getty Images used by permission
Boeing’s share price dropped by nearly 9 per cent in intraday trading yesterday after it postponed the initial test flight of its first new aircraft in more than ten years.
The company said that problems with the body of the revolutionary 787 Dreamliner had forced it to delay the test, which had been scheduled for this month.
Boeing said that it would be several weeks before it could announce a new test flight date or details on how far the delay would push back the delivery of the Dreamliner, which is the company’s first new aircraft since the 777 was developed more than a decade ago.
This marks the fifth time that the test flight has been postponed, damaging Boeing’s credibility when it is struggling with cancelled orders because of the economic downturn…
The aircraft was originally scheduled to make its first flight in summer 2007, with delivery to airlines by early last year, but the test has been delayed four times because of design or production problems.
With the economic downturn hitting business in the travel industry, airlines have cancelled their orders for 45 Dreamliners, although Boeing said this month that it had orders for more than 850 of the aircraft.
“Disappointing” is hardly the appropriate term.
When the world market is down to two firms competing at this size of passenger aircraft, delays give a giant boost to your competitor. In this case, the crew at Airbus. The 380 is rolling out the door.
