波音787客机，梦幻成噩梦

2011-9-6 17:48|发布者: wjwj|查看: 232|评论: 0

Business

商业

Boeing’s woes

波音公司的痛苦

Nightmareliner

噩梦客机

Boeing’s new 787 has been cleared for take-off. But its troubles continue

新型波音787客机已经可以无障碍起飞了，但它的麻烦还在继续

IT WAS tempting fate to call an ambitious new aircraft the “Dreamliner”. A combination of radical technology and a novel outsourced system of manufacture has turned the Boeing 787 into a nightmare.

波音是在玩命：它们将一架被寄予厚望的新型飞机被冠名以“梦幻客机”。 然而，基础科技与全新外包生产系统的结合，将波音公司的787客机变成了一场梦魇。

Since its launch in December 2003, delay has piled on delay. The 787’s seal of approval from the American and European aviation authorities on August 26th and its first delivery—to All Nippon Airways in late September—come more than three years behind schedule.

自从2003年9月宣布研发生产787以来，延期就接踵而至。 波音直到今年8月26号才获得来自欧美航空局的787客机审批，而第一次交付给全日本航空的787飞机要今年9月底才能到位。这超过原计划三年。

Nor do the company’s woes end there: it now faces the difficult task of ramping up production and delivering 787s to impatient customers. Three dozen part-finished 787s are lying around airfields by Boeing’s Everett factory north of Seattle, with ten more inside. The original plan was to have delivered over 100 787s by the end of 2009. Instead the company will be lucky to dispatch seven by the end of this year, and it will be late 2013 before production reaches the ten planes a month needed to break into profit.

波音公司的痛苦仍在继续：客户们越来越急不可耐，而公司却很难让产量实现跨越式增长。 36架部分完成的787已经在波音埃弗雷特生产 基地（坐落于西雅图北部）的停机坪上停放着了，还有10多架停在库房里面。 波音公司原本计划在2009年底之前交付100多架787。 但现在，它能在今年交付7架飞机就已经很幸运了。迟至2013年，波音公司才能将产量提高到每月10架飞机，从而扭亏为盈。

The delays were caused by suppliers. Vought in America and Alenia in Italy delivered defective chunks of the new composite plastic fuselage. Vought struggled so much that Boeing had to buy it. There were also hitches in the supply of smaller parts such as fasteners. Delays, reworking and compensation to customers all burned cash. Inventory costs at Boeing Commercial Airplanes swelled from about $17 billion in December 2009 to more than $24 billion by December 2010.

延期主要是来自供应商。 美国的Vought公司和意大利的Alenia公司曾交付了有缺陷的新型合成塑料机身。 但是，在Vought使出浑身解数之 后，波音公司不得不买下此类次品。 连安全带这样的小配件也出现了故障。 延期、返工以及客户补偿都耗资巨大。 从2009年12月到2010年12月，波音商业飞机的库存费用从大约170亿美元膨胀到了240亿美元以上。

Bernstein, a research firm, estimates that Boeing will not start making money until it delivers its 45th aircraft, and the overall programme will not earn a profit until 1,000 aircraft have been delivered. Boeing officials suggest that this is too pessimistic. More details should emerge in October, with Boeing’s third-quarter results.

一家研究公司Bernstein预计：波音公司在它送出自己第45架飞机之前，是不会开始盈利的；而整个项目需要交付1000架飞机才能获得盈 利。 波音公司的官员认为这个预测未免太过于悲观了。更多的细节需要到10月份等波音第三季度财务报告出来之后才可以看到。

The Dreamliner’s delays are especially painful because its launch was Boeing’s most successful ever. Attracted by the new plane’s promise of fuel economy—20% better than competitors—customers flocked to order more than 950. The strong plastic fuselage also allows for a nicer cabin with bigger windows and fresher, less pressurised air. The current order book is still 821 after cancellations. But early orders were all booked either at discounted launch prices or at levels set before the plane’s production costs soared, and Boeing has little hope of putting up the price.

“梦幻客机”曾经被认为是波音最成功的项目之一，因此它的延误就越发显得令人痛苦。 蜂拥而至的客户预订了超过950架787客机。他们被新型飞机的燃油经济所吸引——波音公司承诺787会比其他竞争者多省20%的燃油。 坚实的塑料机身可以提供更舒适的机舱——机窗更大，而面里的气压更小空气也更清新。 预订被取消之后，在案的仍有821个订单。 但是之前的订单价都享受了打折或是按飞机生产成本未增加之前的水平收取了费用，（眼下）波音想要提升价格是不可能的。

Hopes were high in 2003 that the Dreamliner’s revolutionary plastic airframe would make for easier assembly than conventional aluminium ones. This may yet prove to be true, as even Airbus has opted to follow Boeing, switching to plastic in its new aircraft. Privately, Boeing officials admit that an all-new plane, a new technology and a new way of working with manufacturers (which involved risk-sharing), was too much novelty all at once.

2003年，人们对梦幻客机的期望非常高。它的革命性塑料机身比起传统的铝合金机身来，要更易于装配。 这或许是事实：毕竟连空客都选 择学波音，将传统机身换成了新型的塑料机身。 波音官员私底下承认，要将新飞机、新技术以及跟生产商新型合作方式（同时会共享风险）一次性整合起来，真的太过头了。

The nightmare is having knock-on effects. On August 29th Boeing’s board approved the launch of an upgraded version of its best-selling 737 single-aisle model, to be called the 737 MAX.

这个噩梦正在造成连锁效应。 今年8月29日，波音董事会批准了对其最畅销的737单过道飞机进行升级，并取名为737 MAX。

This is a sign that Boeing is playing catch-up with Airbus, which has won over 1,200 orders for its re-engined single-aisle A320. Boeing had been hoping to hold off until it could offer an all-new single-aisle aircraft, based on the 787’s plastic technology. But in July American Airlines— one of Boeing’s core customers—decided to give Airbus the lion’s share of its order (the world’s biggest) to renew its single-aisle fleet. Boeing had to scale back its ambitions. “We have the technology,” says an insider. “But the lesson of the 787 is that we could not get the production up to scratch in time.”

这是波音努力 追逐空客的信号。空客公司的重新安装引擎后的A320单过道飞机曾赢得了超过1200个订单。 波音想提供一架全新的以787塑料技术为基础 的单过道飞机，它曾希望在此之前按兵不动。 但是，今年七月份，美国航空——波音的核心顾客——为了更新单过道飞机，它决定向空客 提供最大份额的订单（也是全世界最大的）。 波音不得不相应压低自己的雄心。“我们是有技术，”一个内部人员说道，“但是787带来的教训是：我们无法及时地生产出产品。”