Thursday, November 27, 2014

787-8 in service report by FlightGlobal News

Flightglobal should have published this Boeing 787 in-service report about 18 months ago.

That would have been about 18 months into the type's service life – a period Flightglobal has traditionally regarded as long enough for a new aircraft to be over normal teething problems, and thus a good time to report in detail on what operators are thinking about the type.

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(Boeing)
 
But in the case of the 787, 18 months after launch customer All Nippon Airways began revenue service with a charter flight from Tokyo Narita to Hong Kong was April 2013 – and the entire fleet was grounded while Boeing scrambled to resolve lithium-ion battery problems. As a result, it has taken until now to bring together a balanced view of operators’ experience with an aircraft type that has been as troubled as it is technically ambitious.

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(Boeing)
 
To prepare this assessment of a programme that has seen an unusually large measure of anticipation, criticism and praise, Flightglobal dispatched five correspondents to visit operators on three different continents – including several of the earliest customers with the most experience operating the 787-8.

In summary, the 787-8 operators we interviewed are satisfied with the overall performance of the aircraft, but frustrated by lingering teething issues and sub-par reliability levels.

For the full picture, check out our dedicated 787 in-service report page.

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