ANA takes delivery of the first 787

Heavy rain squalls blew through the Seattle region yesterday, but could not dampen the excitement as launch customer All Nippon Airways took delivery of the first 787 at Boeing’s Everett facility.

This is the first new Boeing airliner to enter service since United Airlines took delivery of the first 777 in 1995 — sixteen years ago, and is a ground-breaker in several respects. Perhaps the most noteworthy departures from previous aircraft programs are the extent to which composite materials are used in the 787’s construction and the geographical extent of the construction supply chain. While the composite airframe seems to have been a pretty-much unquestioned success, problems in the supply chain bedeviled the program almost from day one.

But whatever the problems between program launch and first delivery, yesterday was definitely a big day for Boeing, and we wish both Boeing and all its future 787 customers great success with the new airplane.