Boeing's newest and largest 787 Dreamliner rumbled down a South Carolina runway, nudged its nose into the air and took flight for the first time at the weekend.
The take-off served as an emblem of the 787-10’s relatively drama-free development programme, according to the Boeing chief executive Dennis Muilenburg. Riding on its wings are the company’s hopes of turning the 787 into a cash machine amid a forbidding market for twin-aisle planes.
The maiden flight is “a big, big milestone for us and our customers” Mr Muilenburg said. “We’re bringing innovation to the marketplace.”
Boeing’s most technically advanced jetliner is no stranger to the spotlight. For the plane’s public debut last month, it was rolled out of the North Charleston factory to serve as the backdrop for the US president Donald Trump’s address at the plant. The aircraft is the third Dreamliner model, an aircraft family boasting hulls made of spun-carbon fibre and cabin-humidity levels that lessen jet lag. It is the first Boeing plane to be manufactured outside of the Seattle area.
The flight marked the third maiden voyage in a busy few days of commercial-jet debuts. The A319neo, the smallest of Airbus’ upgraded single-aisle jets, also took wing for the first time also at the weekend. The Brazilian plane maker Embraer celebrated the first flight of its E195-E2 on Wednesday.
The 787-10 figures large in Boeing’s efforts to wipe away US$27.3 billion in production losses lingering from the Dreamliner programme’s rocky beginning. It also gives the Chicago-based plane maker a direct competitor to the sleek Airbus A350-900, which is made of carbon-composite panels.
“It starts to step on the very crisp, clean new competitor that Airbus has out,” said George Ferguson, a senior air transport analyst with Bloomberg Intelligence.
The new Dreamliner stretches 68 metres, almost 3 metres longer than its European rival, and its cabin capacity of 330 travellers is designed to carry five more people than the Airbus plane. But the A350 has a longer range and has outsold the 787-10, garnering 602 sales to 149 for the Boeing aircraft.
“It’s almost anti-climactic because it just went so smoothly,” said Mark Jenks, a Boeing vice president and general manager of the 787 programme. “This doesn’t happen a lot of times in a Boeing career. We have learned a lot across our development programmes.”
* Bloomberg
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