Randomly Noted

There’s a sweet lede (first paragraph) on a DJN story today: “All N ippon Airways had hoped to have its first Boeing 787 Dreamliner in time to launch flights to the summer Olympics in Beijing. The London games in 2012 may be a better goal.” No wonder ANA issued this stern (pun intended) comment in reaction to Boeing’s announcement today it will deliver its 787 Dreamliner to ANA in the last quarter of 2010 – looong after Boeing’s initial promised delivery date of May 2008. ANA said: “As launch customer and future operator of the 787, the length of this further delay is a source of great dismay, not to say frustration.” Ouch! It’s worth noting that rival Airbus suffered similarly embarrassing delays with its A380 superjumbo aircraft. Clearly, the industry is setting stretch goals it can’t keep, and one wonders why. Is it a result of external stock market pressure to create a perception of fast-paced new-product innovation above and beyond companies’ ability to deliver on their promises? Or is it a failure by managers of hugely complex manufacturers to factor in engineering, manufacturing, supply-chain and labor setbacks? Most likely it’s a bit of both: the market wants to know that Boeing, Airbus and competitors are on the cutting-edge, creating the biggest, fastest, most efficient aircraft. And the increasing technological complexity of such aircraft has created a monumental challenge for the individuals tasked with making the sausage, so to speak. I confess to feeling some sympathy for those working at Boeing who are scrambling to get the Dreamliner into the air.