Boeing has acknowledged that it has "found the need for some improvements" on the 787, specifically in the centre wing box, and that the fixes are underway for those aircraft undergoing assembly.
The company did not confirm whether the extra work would result in another delay. Boeing’s response follows comments from International Lease Finance Corp. (ILFC) – the world’s largest aircraft lessor – chairman and CEO Steven Udvar-Hazy that he anticipated a further six-month delay as a result of problems with the centre wing box.
Boeing’s last public forecast envisioned the 787 entering commercial service in early 2009, though the company has said it would update that estimate in April after a detailed review of program milestones is completed.
Boeing officials had repeatedly stressed that the 787 program’s multiple delays were due to problems with suppliersand not design flaws, as was the case with Airbus’ much-delayed A380transport.