The original first flight was scheduled for November 27, 2007. Spelunking back in history to the original delay announcement, http://www.usatoday.com/money/ind

The original first flight was scheduled for November 27, 2007. Spelunking back in history to the original delay announcement, http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/travel/2007-09-05-boeing-787_N.htm http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/travel/2007-09-05-b..., is interesting: "Chicago-based Boeing now is struggling to avoid missed deadlines and their resulting costs in dollars and reputation. Airbus, for example, is running an embarrassing 22 months behind on production of its new A380 super-jumbo jet, its flagship product. Those delays caused management shake-ups, canceled orders and costly payments to customers." Boeing and the world gave Airbus a lot of grief for the schedule slippage of the A380. Boeing has subsequently gotten its share of grief for 787 slips. Interestingly, I've seen comments holding the A380 up as a success vs. the 787 by people who have already forgotten the A380 schedule slips.