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>wikipedia: The airliner's maiden flight took place on December 15, 2009, and completed flight testing in mid-2011. >this article: Almost a dozen years after t
by notatoad 11y ago
>wikipedia: The airliner's maiden flight took place on December 15, 2009, and completed flight testing in mid-2011.
>this article: Almost a dozen years after the jet was launched, however, the prospect of the 787 ever making an overall profit for Boeing remains doubtful
it actually entered service almost exactly four years ago, i'm not sure where they get 12 years from. It seems a little early to be saying it never will reach a profit.
- Riegerb 11y agoIn the commercial airplane world 'launching' an airplane just means it can be sold to customers, not that the airplane is done. Boeing adheres to a 'gated' design process, where one of the earlier gates is the 'launch' of the aircraft and the last is entry into service. The airplane is designed far enough to close the business case and then can be 'launched'.
- ubernostrum 11y ago"Launch" of an airliner program does not refer to the first airframe going into service; it refers to the point where the manufacturer officially announces the program to airlines and begins taking orders. Typically the actual aircraft is years from being assembled and flying when that occurs (for example, Boeing launched the 777X program in 2013, and currently plans for the first actual 777X aircraft to enter service in 2020).