Boeing on 27 July delivered the 300th 787 aircraft, reaching the milestone less than four years after the type entered service.
The handover of the 300th aircraft follows a swift ramp up from two per month in 2012 to 10 per month two years later, despite overcoming challenges such as production breakdowns in Charleston, South Carolina, and a four-month delivery pause while Boeing and government officials investigated and fixed the aircraft’s faulty lithium-ion batteries.
Leading the acceleration of the 787 production system since 2012 was Larry Loftis, a veteran of the 737, 747 and 777 programmes.
Boeing announced on 24 July that Loftis is retiring, having stabilised the 787 production system.
“Larry’s vision, commitment and true working-together spirit will have a lasting effect on our people, our company and our customers for years to come,” says Pat Shanahan, Boeing’s senior vice-president of Airplane Programmes.
Loftis will be succeeded by Mark Jenks as vice-president and general manager of the 787 programme. Jenks previously worked on the 787’s Airplane Development staff, where he led the development, test and certification of the 787-9, as well as launched the 787-10.
Jenks inherits the position as Boeing prepares for a new production rate increase, with monthly deliveries planned to rise 20% to 12 aircraft per month in 2016. The first 787-10 is also likely to enter the production system next year at the North Charleston factory.
Meanwhile, Boeing will be preparing for yet another production rate increase to 14 per month by the end of the decade. At the same time, Boeing plans to consolidate three 787 production lines today, including a temporary surge line, into single lines in Everett, Washington and North Charleston. Each of the re-tooled lines will have the capacity to deliver seven aircraft per month.
Source: Cirium Dashboard
