ANA Can Cover 787 Delay Of Up To One Year

All Nippon Airways has sufficient contingency plans to cope with further delivery delays in Boeing’s 787 program, but will face serious headaches if the first handover is pushed into 2012.

ANA CEO Shinichiro Ito says the carrier has taken “substantial measures” in case Boeing cannot meet the current first delivery target of the first quarter of 2011. “We can cover their delay for one year [beyond the current target] without major damage” to ANA’s operations or plans, Ito says. His comments were made to Aviation Week on the sidelines of a Star Alliance CEOs conference in Queenstown, New Zealand.

The Japanese carrier is the launch customer for the 787, and has a total of 55 of the 787-8 and -9 versions on order. But the latest problems that have arisen during testing mean that Boeing is reassessing its timeline once again.

Ito says these these technical issues will “most likely lead to another delay,” and he has been asking Boeing to present the revised timeline “as soon as possible.” He notes that ANA has endured six delays already, and a seventh will be “disappointing.”

Industry observers expect Boeing’s next revision to push the first delivery back into the second half of 2011. ANA was to receive the aircraft in late 2008 under the original plan, and the carrier will be entitled to significant financial compensation due to Boeing’s timetable slips.

The contingency measures ANA has already put in place involve reshuffling its fleet plan to cover for the absence of the 787. This includes postponing retirement of older Airbus A320s and Boeing 767s. The carrier has also acquired additional newer 767-300ERs to help fill the gap.

But the 767s “can’t cover everything” that the carrier intended for the 787, Ito notes. Another lengthy delay will affect its plans to launch new long-haul flights that were earmarked for the 787, such as new routes to the eastern U.S. and Europe from Tokyo Haneda airport.

Meanwhile, ANA’s plans to phase out its 747-400s are unaffected. The carrier will not have passenger 747s on international routes after March, by which time it will have returned its two remaining leased aircraft. These are being replaced by 777-300ERs. ANA will continue to use 747s on domestic routes for another couple of years, Ito says.

Regarding its planned launch of a low-cost carrier, Ito says the company that will run the LCC will be established in January. An operational launch is expected in late 2011, probably November or December. The airline is still not revealing the name it intends for its LCC.