Spirit AeroSystems has not resumed winding the composite barrels for Boeing’s new 787 Dreamliner, the company’s top executive said recently. Spirit halted the building of the nose sections as Boeing delayed the 787 project. “It will be several more months before we start that up,” Spirit chief executive Jeff Turner told analysts in a webcast recently.
There have been bottlenecks related to engineering changes incorporated into the airplane, Turner said.
Still, delays also have had a silver lining. “The delays in the program have allowed a lot of ‘get out of jail free’ cards” that it otherwise would not have had, Turner said. For one, “we should have a quicker ramp-up than we would have had otherwise” once the program gets into full swing since suppliers have had the extra time.
The first 500 Boeing 787s, however, will have lower margins, he said.
Spirit has made significant investments in the 787 program. “We believe in the value of this airplane,” Turner said. “We feel good about our support to the customer and stepping up to teh challenges of this program.”
What do you think? Do you think there will be more delays on the 787?
