• 787-8 Dreamliner
    Boeing
    Stock Code:
    BA
    Date Founded:
    1916-07-15
    CEO:
    Dave Calhoun
    Headquarters Location:
    Chicago, USA
    Key Product Lines:
    Boeing 737, Boeing 747, Boeing 757, Boeing 767, Boeing 777, Boeing 787
    Business Type:
    Planemaker

American Airlines has confirmed it expects to receive delivery of its first Boeing 787-8 as early as tomorrow. In a statement sent to Simple Flying today, the airline said:

"American expects to receive its first Boeing 787-8 delivery of 2022 as early as Wednesday, Aug. 10. This will be American's first 787 delivery since April 2021. The aircraft, with registration number N880BJ, will be delivered from Charleston and is expected to enter commercial service in the coming weeks. Following this delivery, American will have 47 active 787 family aircraft in its fleet with an additional 42 on order. We appreciate the work done by the Federal Aviation Administration and Boeing during the review process."

For the last few weeks, speculation has been rife that 787 deliveries were about to resume, but now it is confirmed. To be fair, neither Boeing nor the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has officially fueled any of that comment. In fact, when Simple Flying contacted Boeing for this piece today, the planemaker immediately responded with their consistent statement: "We continue to work transparently with the FAA and our customers towards resuming 787 deliveries." Boeing people in Seattle, Charleston, Washington or wherever they gather around the world must feel a sense of relief that they can now get on with delivering all those stored 787s.

American Airlines delivery is the first in 15 months

American 787 Dreamliner Getty
American Airlines is about to add its 47th Boeing 787, the first to be delivered to the airline since April 2021. Photo: Vincenzo Pace I Simple Flying

The 787-8 bound for American Airlines will be the first 787 delivered since Boeing suspended them in May 2021. Concerns about manufacturing flaws in some 787s were raised by the FAA in 2020, including issuing two airworthiness directives. Boeing resumed deliveries in March 2021 before stopping them again in May, after the FAA had expressed concern about inspection issues. At the time, the FAA said it wanted to ensure that Boeing "has a robust plan for the re-work that it must perform on a large volume of new 787s in storage."

That has now been done and dusted to the FAA's satisfaction, and Boeing has the clear air it needs to push 787s out the hangar door. Reports say that Boeing has around 120 completed 787s waiting for delivery, although how many have already been inspected per the approved plan is unknown. Now that the ball is back in Boeing's court, hopefully, the planemaker will reveal the inspection and delivery process and a timeline for clearing the built aircraft.

Time to get back to work

Multiple Boeing 787s in the Production facility.
Photo: Boeing

Boeing's unfilled orders report for June 30 shows a backlog of 476 787s. The most in-demand type is the 787-9, which has 316 in backlog, followed by the 787-10 with 121 and the 787-8 with 39. Of the orders allocated to a customer, the larger ones are from Etihad Airways (32), Lufthansa (32), Emirates (30), American Airlines (25) and Qatar Airways (23).

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One of the most vocal critics of the 787 delays has been Emirates president Tim Clark, who earlier this year said he wouldn't be surprised if the airline dropped the 787s out of the mix completely. With Qatar Airways embroiled in a legal dispute over Airbus A350, they would likely jump at the chance to take the thirty 787s that Emirates has on order, assuming Clark still has his pessimistic outlook on the program.

It will be fascinating to see the liveries of the 120 undelivered 787s and how Boeing works out each airline's place in the queue. Will Emirates be at the top?