ANA says it's greatly disappointed with Boeing over latest 787 glitch
SEATAC, Wash. -- A day that was supposed to be a celebration for Boeing's latest jet ended up leaving one of its major customers very unhappy.
The inaugural All Nippon Airways 787 flight from Sea-Tac Airport to Tokyo was delayed due to a mechanical glitch.
The flight was supposed to depart Monday, but a faulty part in the airplane's cooling system kept the aircraft on the ground at Sea-Tac.
ANA, which had several corporate officials on hand for the first flight, said the company was greatly disappointed with Boeing.
The airline was the launch customer for Boeing's 787 and has placed orders for many of the new jets. A spokesperson said the company was working with Boeing to address the latest mechanical problem.
The plane had landed Monday morning and fire trucks sprayed rainbows of water to greet the first ANA 787 to land in commercial service at Sea-Tac. The jet took its passengers to a terminal gate and prepared for its afternoon departure back to Tokyo before the delay was announced in the late afternoon.
The airline put the passengers up in a hotel overnight and hopes to have them back on the way to Tokyo at about 1:15 p.m. Tuesday on a second 787 that was flown to Sea-Tac overnight.
Passengers departing on the flight originally scheduled for Tuesday will fly to Tokyo on the repaired 787 aircraft that arrived yesterday.
The inaugural All Nippon Airways 787 flight from Sea-Tac Airport to Tokyo was delayed due to a mechanical glitch.
The flight was supposed to depart Monday, but a faulty part in the airplane's cooling system kept the aircraft on the ground at Sea-Tac.
ANA, which had several corporate officials on hand for the first flight, said the company was greatly disappointed with Boeing.
The airline was the launch customer for Boeing's 787 and has placed orders for many of the new jets. A spokesperson said the company was working with Boeing to address the latest mechanical problem.
The plane had landed Monday morning and fire trucks sprayed rainbows of water to greet the first ANA 787 to land in commercial service at Sea-Tac. The jet took its passengers to a terminal gate and prepared for its afternoon departure back to Tokyo before the delay was announced in the late afternoon.
The airline put the passengers up in a hotel overnight and hopes to have them back on the way to Tokyo at about 1:15 p.m. Tuesday on a second 787 that was flown to Sea-Tac overnight.
Passengers departing on the flight originally scheduled for Tuesday will fly to Tokyo on the repaired 787 aircraft that arrived yesterday.
Are they still here?
to bad ANA does not have any 787s with GE engines. COME ON duecy!
All that water spraying from the firetrucks made one of the engine parts malfunction. True story!!
This of course coming from the country that still will not acknowledge that one of it's largest car makers has killed people the world over because of faulty computers causing accelerators to stick wide open. It wasn't from floor mats as they tried to say. That engine has Rolls Royce boldly painted on the side. Put the blame where it belongs, on the engine manufacturer not the company that built the plane.
If I were ANA I would be disappointed in Boeing too. The planes are built 40 miles from where it broke down. You'd think they could get a replacement part & have it installed in less than 24 hours... Especially for such a high profile trip.
Oh well... **it happens.  Too bad it was a celebrity flight of some kind.  Wonder if the Japanese would have just gone up anyway to avoid the embarrassment.  That's the Rolls engine too.  Didn't the GE unit have some issue?
They are just posturing for a discount on future orders...
Airbus execs probably eating this up.; probably will boost their sales greatly too.
I would be disappointed too...
That part could have been made in Japan or somewhere else....you know that this plane contains
so many parts from other countries and Boeing only do the assembly work.
I remember seeing the 787 as a kid and hearing it was due to come out in just a few years. I'm graduating from college next May and am now convinced the 787 will never be a common aircraft.
@dancingnights999 These latest are just unfortunate glitches that will be fixed as the aircraft continues to enter service as well as continues in service. 787 sales are already very large and will continue to grow. The 787 will be a world beater just as the 777, 747, 707, etc. were for their times.
 @dancingnights999 If the Boeing's fuel economy figures for the plane hold up, the orders will come in as the price of fuel goes up.  Simple as that.
lol, Qantas gave up on em also. You couldn't write funnier comedy then what this plane has provided. I wouldn't go for a taxi test in it. Wait til there's a glitch in the fly by wire. Thats when ANA and the paying passengers will be real disappointed.
@T_BONE_WALKER Qantas didn't cancel their entire order, they are in poor financial shape, and need the capital for other purposes. They retain dozens of purchase rights that they can exercise when they're in better financial condition.
 @T_BONE_WALKER I find it interesting you would pick fly by wire as a glitch. The 777 was their first FBW commercial aircraft and it worked just fine, developed in the 90's. While regrettable, no matter what Boeing does there will always be something that happens with a new aircraft. Sometimes it takes years in service before a problem is discovered. Airbus goes through the same thing. At least this one didn't go up and have an engine blow up like the Qantas A380 in November 2010.
It's just the Japanese being Japanese. Everything bad that happens brings shame, yada, yada, yada....
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The ANA big wigs in attendance felt embarrassed, so they have to save face somehow by pointing fingers.Â
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I don't blame them, but life ain't perfect.Â
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Maybe Japan can build their own commercial jets in the future. I'm surprised that they don't to be honest.Â
 @caphillkid Have you been to Japan? Do you know many Japanese nationals? Your comments about the Japanese being Japanese is uneducated. Not everything bad that happens brings shame stop watching so many movies and TV shows then thinking you know something about Japan. Typical American they think what they have seen on TV is Japan. I am not trying to be a jerk so if it sounds that way I apologize I just get tired of people thinking they know the Japanese because of what they see in the movies. Before you ask yes I have been to Japan many times, my wife is a Japanese national and we will be moving back there in the next month. I do know the Japanese culture and some of the real old school Japanese businessmen are all about honor but the youth are very modern in their thinking. The ANA execs are probably pissed because they flew all the way here just to have to sit and wait for them time is money.
 @caphillkid China is going to be the next serious player in the large commercial passenger aircraft market.  They are stealing the technologies necessary to design and build larger aircraft and the internal market for those aircraft will drive the need to build them in country.Â
 @My_Thoughts  @caphillkid Brazil is already building better aircraft than China ever will...
 @My_Thoughts  @caphillkid China may steal technology to make things but they make very inferior products I would never get into a plane that was produced solely in China. China has very serious economical issue I would not see them becoming a player in many things if it continues. The production they do over there is coming to an end soon. Wages are rising to fast there and US companies will find it easier to move operations to smaller Asian countries or back to the US. Which would make me happy why our government allows US companies to help further the economic prowess of a communist country is beyond me.
 @caphillkid With the garbage that Boeing keeps producing, it's only a matter of time until they do exactly that.
 @skcusomok  @caphillkid I'm certainly no fan boy of Boeing management or the union, but I worked there for 5 years and I can tell you that they most certainly do not put out garbage for commercial airplanes. I think that's a bit of a miracle considering they have a lot of morons in management and jackasses in the union.
My two cents...that faulty/failed part was probably built by Honeywell or Hamilton Sundstrand!
Sounds like a problem with a part.
Any part can go bad. I wouldn't throw the plane under the bus because one part went bad.
all in time, GO BOEING GO!
Was it a part that was outsourced to japan?
And Boeing workers want a raise!
 @DDG yes we do! When you work for a company that makes billions in profits, then you should share in that. What don't you understand?
 @donner  @DDG I am a Washington resident and proud to have Boeing as one of our key employers in the region. However I am sad to see one strike after another against them. With the economy in poor shape and unemployment numbers high why would the union risk losing even more business since we all know Boeing is serious about moving jobs out of state?
 @donner  @DDG ROFL. If you want a share in profits, start your own company. You sense of entitlement is astonishing.
 @Mumblix Grumph  @skcusomok  @donner  @DDG It wasn't Boeing but it was aircraft parts and yes we were required to sign a form stating that any part or process we developed, invented, or even thought up while on company time was the property of the company.
 @My_Thoughts  @skcusomok  @donner  @DDG Why didn't you patent the process? Does Boeing have a clause where they own anything you invent?
 @skcusomok  @donner  @DDG I once made a proof of concept part showing that a change in machining techniques could have saved the company 20% in material costs and then threw the part away because I knew the company wouldn't compensate me in any way, not even an attaboy, for the suggestion.  That is that kinds of "loyalty" you get from the management attitude you've all suggested.
@donner @DDG Your paycheck is your compensation. I agree, you want some of the profits , Buy some of the stock, otherwise, get back to work.
 @sportbuff01 That get you employee's that are going to do no more or less than required to keep getting the paycheck.  No suggestions on part or process improvement and certainly no incentive to go above and beyond in case of a problem or crisis.Â
 @donner  @DDG Hi Donner. I'm not someone who follows all the details of the Boeing contract issues (nor am I affiliated with either management or the union), but here are my thoughts on this latest contract: one the one hand, I totally agree with you that workers should be participants in the company's success, but I'm also concerned that a strike could end up making things worse if Boeing moves more manufacturing away. I'm not sure they've quite learned the lesson that the Puget Sound workers do the best work for them since, like most companies, they're too focused on quarterly earnings.
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Strange, you hit the nail on the head.... companies are to focused on quarterly earnings for their investors.
What companies seemed to have forgotten, is that their employees are the primary investors. They have their livelyhood invested in the company in which they work for.... I would say that is quite a bit...
@donner @DDG Buy shares in Boeing then you can partake in the profits.
 @boeman And that attitude from management gets you employee's that are just there to put in the time and do as little work as necessary to get the check.
Not the employee's I'd want in a company I had an interest in.Â
 @strangel00p  @DMan  @donner  @DDG Your reward for the work you have done is your paycheck, you want to share in profits, buy stock...
 @DMan  @donner  @DDG You shouldn't have to buy company stock to be rewarded for the work you've already done to make the success happen.
ANA should have bought the 787 from Costco
So what we're saying here is waiting 3 years and spending $300 mil per plane doesn't guarantee you a perfect product.Hmmm. Did you save the receipt?
@melvin $300 million per plane? Lol. ANA launched the dang thing with 50 firm orders. They likely paid about what the list price for a new 737 is. And that was before any delay compensation. N
 @melvin You could throw all of the money in the world at it and it would still not be perfect, as it is a machine built by human beings. Â
Welcome to the era of "global manufacturing": where quality doesn't matter and every part is hand manufactured in a dilapidated shed with slave labor and from the lowest-grade pot-metal.
Have you seen some of the people that work for Boeing? Some of them are the most idiotic people you've ever met. How some of them even got a job there is beyond me.
So they're disappointed with Boeing over a part that malfunctioned on a machine. Who made the part? What caused the failure of the part? Perhaps ANA should think about important details like that before stooping to the average American consumer level and whining about it publicly.Â
 @Sovereign It all depends on who made the decision to use that part/ component. If it's part of an engine that ANA specified, then Boeing is less culpable. But if it's Boeing's decision, then it's Boeing's responsibility.