Did u come across Boeing's Big Flight ?

Boeing's new 787 wide-body jetliner finished its maiden flight on December 15,2009. Although, rollout of the aircraft has been resolute by a series of development delays, which will cost the company millions of dollars in recompense to customers. Receiving the 787 Boeing's main new competitor in the key high-margin wide-body market section and a platform for several new technologies back on track is very important to securing the company's future in its fierce competition with Airbus.

The Boeing’s 787 has won around 840 orders to date, which, regardless of some cancellations, is a record for a commercial aircraft at launch.

The maiden flight permits Boeing to boost the confidence of customers, arrest the flow of orders to the forthcoming Airbus A350 and get the program backside on track after a two-year delay.

Though, with a demanding twelve months of testing in front relating an aircraft that features inventive large-scale composite material structures, the pressure on the company to deliver is set to increase.

The most significant question is whether Boeing can meet the remarkably determined monthly production targets it has set for itself; if not, the company faces additional program losses and may sacrifice its current aggressive advantage over Airbus.

Airbus catch-up? The repetitive delays have given Airbus an opportunity to recover ground that it lost to Boeing in wide-body aircraft market. The Boeing 777's comprehensive market success over the A340 and the arrival of the 787 forced the European firm to speed up the design of a new competing product, the A350XWB although it is still at least two years behind the 787.

Airbus's cash flow and focal point on the A350 have both been disturbed by chronic production problems with its A380 superjumbo airliner. The A380 is still mainly being ended as a custom product while the company has failed to standardize the aircraft's wiring system. Deliveries insulate last year's total, and delivery targets for 2010 have been reduced. Deferrals and cancellations have eaten into EADS's cash reserves, moving its ability to finance the A350.

Boeing response. Boeing emerges to have learned from its rival's troubles, so the 787 is unlikely to come across the same chronic production problems that still bedevil the A380although its heavy complex material use does take the 787 into relatively uncharted territory as far as large-scale mass civil aircraft production is worried. Therefore, it is believable that there could be further delays in Boeing's extremely demanding testing and production schedule.

787 prospects. So far predictions for the 787 remain very bright. The aircraft is more superior than the A350. It assures improvements in fuel glow and general emissions reduction that will make it the most environmentally friendly airliner in check particularly important when fuel prices are set on a rising curvature.

Riding out recession. Boeing and Airbus both anticipate a fall in demand in 2010 due to the deep airline industry depression. In the longer term, Boeing still predicts a global market for 29,000 airliners worth $3.2 trillion, over the next 20 years an estimate that appears credible.

Overall, Boeing has travelled out the depression and credit crisis relatively smoothly. The company profits from liquidity support from the U.S. export credit agency, the Export-Import Bank, accounting for almost 40% of the bank's $21 billion in business last year. This support is a major support for the company in its battle with Airbus, which has related backing from three national credit agencies albeit not at the similar volume or at such advantageous rates.