Boeing 787 queries raised

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Monday, 13 December 2010

US aviation journalist Jon Ostrower and others have raised more questions about development of Boeing's 787, saying its composite materials have thrown up a number of problems, its global supply and design chain for the plane means it is heavily reliant on third parties for components and finally, there have been issues with the electrics.

Boeing plans to rework the software for the power distribution system, but the company isn't offering an estimate of how long it will take.

Ostrower and others say the fix could take four to six months.

"When you start unravelling software in such an integrated system where one part of the airplane depends on another part of the airplane which depends on another part of the airplane, you get a bit of a domino effect in terms of not being able to just change one thing in isolation," Ostrower said.

Meanwhile, airlines that ordered the 787 are believed to be losing patience with the planemaker.

Air India is understood to want US$840 million in compensation from Boeing, and China Eastern is said to want to cancel its 787 orders.