Boeing Says Still Aiming For 787 Delivery In 2010

Boeing is still working toward the first delivery of its delayed 787 Dreamliner in the first quarter of 2010, and its customer financing for new orders is sufficient into next year, the planemaker said on Tuesday.

The company is also on track to make its first test flight of the 787 in the second quarter of 2009, Scott Carson, chief executive of Boeing Commercial Airplanes, said at the JP Morgan Aviation and Transportation Conference.

"A reiteration of the schedule is certainly good," said Alex Hamilton, senior managing director at Jesup & Lamont Securities.

Hamilton also said the Carson's comments on credit were encouraging, given the tight credit markets that have curbed buying since last year. Boeing has said it is likely to book fewer orders this year than it did in 2008.

Carson said market demand for the carbon-composite 787 was strong, with 878 firms orders from 57 customers.

Boeing has been struggling to assemble the plane because of late design changes, parts shortages and substandard work by contractors.

Also on Tuesday, Delta Air Lines President Edward Bastian reaffirmed that the carrier has firm orders for 18 787s despite speculation in the industry that it might cancel them.

"We still have a firm order position on the 787, and I realize that the fact that our legal folks had us take that out of the firm column in our 10-K recently provoked a lot of controversy," Bastian said.

"I would like to reaffirm we still have a firm order book on the 787 with 18," he said.