"Good, steady progress" on 787 as Boeing works to lighten up

Boeing's 787 is on schedule. Early practice production is going smoothly. A plan to take off extra weight is in place. And the new jet's boost to airline operating economics will be significantly better than originally projected.

That was the vigorously upbeat status report Monday from 787 program chief Mike Bair.

With the airplane less than a year from its first flight, the program is under intense scrutiny for early signs of the kind of disastrous stumbles that have led to two-year delays on the Airbus A380 superjumbo.

But if Bair is feeling the pressure, it isn't showing.

"I'm feeling good. We're seeing some good news as the partners put their parts together," he said during a quarterly news-briefing teleconference. "Some things where they've scheduled days to do the assembly, have happened in hours."

Bair admitted to teething problems. The plane is "a bit on the pouchy side," as he put it — meaning the design is about 5,000 pounds overweight, around 2 percent over the target weight. But he insists his baby is healthy.

"We have some challenges but we know what they are and we know how to deal with them," Bair said, "We're really happy with where we're at. The airplane is coming together."

Boeing even has contingency plans and available financing ready, he said, "to deal with things that haven't happened that might happen."

The most surprising news was the projection of even better economics on the 787.

Bair said his program originally predicted the jet's overall operating cost to airlines would be 8 to 10 percent better than the 767's. His analysts now calculate the operating cost improvement will be 2 or 3 points better than that target, at least 20 percent better than anticipated.

Bair said the extra savings to airlines will come from a "dramatic improvement" in maintenance costs for the noncorroding plastic airframe and the jet's simplified systems architecture.

Other points of interest from the call:

• "Virtual rollout" next month. Boeing will have a digital computer simulation of the entire production and assembly process in December. This will allow validation of such details as checking exactly where a bolt goes, whether there is sufficient clearance to insert it, and whether there's room for the mechanic's hands, before any of these parts are made.

• Wiring OK. Bair downplayed the likelihood of wiring problems of the sort that have plagued the A380. The new jet has about 60 miles of wiring, roughly two-thirds of that in the similar-sized 767. This compares with 350 miles of wiring in the A380 that's proved so problematic.

"It's a vastly different exercise for us," Bair said.

• Production in Everett. He characterized the Everett final assembly process as requiring light, flexible tooling that will require little investment. He added nothing new about production rates.

Output rates will go up because of demand, he said, though Boeing will be careful not to "get greedy and over commit before we have all the kinks worked out."

"It's not obvious to us, at the kind of [production] rates we're looking at, that we'd have to go to a second final assembly [line]," he said.

Diet plans

Bair spent some time addressing the persistent problem of the airplane's weight.

Boeing had approximately the same extra poundage in July 2005 when it began substantial efforts to slim the jet.

Yet Bair admitted on the call that in the interim other changes have added weight, so that "there's been upward pressure on it rather than downward."

Still, everything is under control, he said. His engineers have a diet plan.

They've identified small brackets and clips that can be made from lighter titanium rather than aluminum. And in some areas, where "it's obvious we overdesigned [parts] a little bit," he said, design tolerance margins can be shaved so that the parts are a little thinner and thus lighter.

"We know exactly what we need to do. We've got it scheduled. We've got it resourced," Bair said.

Bair rattled off a quick-fire list of accomplishments.

Airports at 787 partner facilities around the globe have been improved for delivery of large parts.

Grottaglie, Italy, has doubled the length of its runway. Nagoya, Japan, has put in extra ramp and dock facilities. Charleston, S.C., has extended a taxiway.

Large cargo-loading machines have already arrived in Italy, Japan and Everett.

The Japanese partners have made rapid progress in production.

Two weeks ago, Kawasaki finished a single-piece plastic fuselage barrel, the first one made outside the U.S. Fuji is already working on parts for planes 4 and 5. Mitsubishi has built a complete wing in a "field trial" and is building its first flight parts.

And on East Marginal Way, Boeing has created a lab with connected electronic boxes and actuators representing the airplane's flight controls and hydraulic systems, allowing testing of the disparate systems to see how they work together.

All tests so far in every part of the program are looking good, said Bair.

"In a nutshell," he said, "good, steady progress."

Dominic Gates: 206-464-2963 or dgates@seattletimes.com