I agree an aggressive schedule can help keep everybody focused, but this was insanity dressed up in a power point presentation.
That’s not even the worst of it. The olympics were the deadline for the Chinese carriers, the first customers were due planes by the 2nd half of 2007.. Hence the 7/08/07 “rollout”. The first deliveries were due to trickle in after that. By this measure, the program is already 3 years late even if they start delivering tomorrow. I’m not a Boeing basher, and I’m a big fan of the 787, but the way things have turned out...just damn. Having worked indirectly with Boeing over the years (and Scott Fancher, mentioned in the article, being our program manager at one point, so I’m familiar with him), I can see the truth in the comments below that article. I remember having to cross a picket line every day during that 2005 strike, but the union is only part of the problem. Boeing couldn’t wait to get rid of Spirit in Wichita, but now they’re the better performers in the 787 chain and now Boeing absorbed the poorly performing SC plant.