Dreamliner is causing nightmares for Boeing

When Boeing Co. unveiled plans to build the 787 Dreamliner, the aircraft was touted as revolutionary, a major technological shift in the way a plane is made and in the way it operates.

But revolutions rarely come without a struggle.

The 787 is now more than two years behind schedule and by some estimates is costing Boeing $4 billion more to develop than planned. The troubled jetliner has also set back other Boeing projects, analysts say, and has left some suppliers financially strapped.

One major supplier, Vought Aircraft Industries Inc., initially projected it would spend $250 million for tools and machinery to make parts for the aircraft. By July, costs had ballooned to $600 million. The company this summer sold the 787 fuselage assembly operations to Boeing.

"Financial demands of the 787 program were beyond what the company's balance sheet could support," said Lynne Warne, a Vought spokeswoman.

Boeing's acquisition of Vought's factory -- completed so Boeing could have more control over a key aircraft part -- marked a major reversal in the company's strategy and highlighted the pitfalls of making planes that not only use new materials but also are assembled in a radically different way.

The 787 is the first large passenger jet to have more than half its structure made of composite materials (carbon fibers meshed together with epoxy) instead of aluminum sheets. Major parts for the plane would also be pre-assembled elsewhere and then shipped to Everett, Wash., where they would be "snapped together" in three days, compared with a month in the traditional way.

"Any time you're dealing with new material and new techniques, there's bound to be disruptions in development," said Richard Aboulafia, an aerospace analyst with Teal Group Corp., a Virginia-based research firm.

Boeing declined to comment for this article but has said that the delays are the inevitable result of developing an aircraft with a new manufacturing method. Once they work out the kinks, Boeing officials said, they have no doubt it would go down in history as one of the most successful airplanes.

But for now it appears that travelers won't be flying in the plane any time soon. Initially scheduled to fly passengers in May 2008, Boeing has said that won't happen until late next year.

The effect of the delay has been far-reaching, hurting 787 suppliers stretching from Southern California to Russia, Japan and Italy. There are about 50 suppliers in California alone.