Ever wondered how the B787 is built? Business Traveller reveals all from inside Boeing’s Everett factory ahead of its official launch.
With just hours to go until the delivery of the Dreamliner from Boeing to All Nippon Airways (ANA) at 5pm BST (9am PDT) today, the aircraft manufacturer provides a behind-the-scenes glimpse of how the revolutionary new plane is built.
The giant Everett hangar, which is one of the biggest buildings in the world at 4km in area, also sits near to where launch customer ANA will see its first flight take off on Tuesday morning (PDT), from Seattle to Tokyo.
In the meantime, here are some photos from inside the facility that document the final stages of production, from the assemblage of the fuselage, nose and wings, to the fitting of the seats, testing and painting.
It’s a process that currently takes Boeing about one month to complete two planes, but a spokesman says that it anticipates a “ramping up to as much as seven a month” thanks to increased labour and efficiency.
As you can see from the images, there are four B787s on the assembly line at the moment – a 16th for ANA, a first for United, the second for Ethiopian and one for Air India (although the tail fin for this has not yet been painted).
About 30,000 people work from Monday to Friday, 24 hours day across three shifts to manufacture the Dreamliner, in addition to B777s, B747s and B767s. Each B787 costs airlines about US$185 million to buy.
A full report of the launch will be published tomorrow morning. Visit boeing.com for more information.
By Jenny Southan
