History repeats itself

News broke last week that the 787 first delivery is again delayed (to the fourth quarter of 2010). So, at 28 months, the 787 will hold the unenviable record for the longest delay of a large aircraft first delivery. Yet the aircraft will doubtless be a huge success and the programme's troubles will eventually fade from our thoughts. Turn the clock back just a couple of years and it was the A380 delays that filled the headlines. When Singapore Airlines took delivery of their first A380 in October 2007, the aircraft was almost two years late. Consequently, most of the early deliveries of the A380 have taken place against the backdrop of the worst economic environment the airline industry has ever suffered. But if Boeing can stick to the current plan, the 787 will be delivered at the very moment the global economy will (hopefully) be climbing high again.

How different things might have been if both aircraft programmes had been on time! The impact of the global economic crisis would have been felt very differently by Airbus and Boeing, and indeed the customers of these aircraft.