The Boeing (NYSE: BA) 787 Dreamliner has been delayed three times, mostly because of problems with suppliers.The situation has gotten so bad that some of the company's customers, large airlines, say they will ask Boeing for compensation. That could cost Boeing a lot of money.

Boeing management has promised that there will be no more delays and that everyone who wants a plane will get one, on time. But, the best laid plans...

The company's large unions may stage work slowdowns. They argue that the work given to suppliers should have gone to them. They claim that delays could have been cut. Of course, now they want to delay the program further all on their own.

"Unions have the upper hand now,'' said Richard Aboulafia, an analyst with Teal Group, an aviation consulting firm in Fairfax, Virginia, told Bloomberg. "They're determined to get their share of the good times."

Boeing management now faces more criticism because its own labor force can't be held in line. The company's stock has already dropped due to the delays. First suppliers, now its own people.

The news shows that incompetent management usually stays incompetent. Boeing did not control its supply chain, and did not know it had component problems until too late. Now it will be accused of not even keeping tabs on its own unions.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.

With Delta Air Lines and Northwest Airlines said-to-be-close to announcing a merger, according to Reuters, analysts and business executives will closely-evaluate the proposed deal's details, parsing it to see if it is capable of creating something the land of the free hasn't experienced in quite some time: a profitable major airline.

Turning aside (for the moment) points that argue that with the added cost of public subsidies of aviation and aerospace research, it's hard to envision a U.S. airline as ever being truly 'profitable,' independent stock analyst C. Leonard Bauer told BloggingStocks Monday the merged Delta / Northwest could create an assertive airline capable of racking-up revenue, even as it spurs aviation innovation and change.

Boeing announced Tuesday that it is still on track to fly its first 787 Dreamliner in Q1 2008 and deliver the plane to its first customer, All Nippon Airways, by the end of 2008, The Wall Street Journal reported (subscription required).

Boeing (NYSE: BA) also confirmed full-build 787 aircraft production plans. Earlier this year, Boeing delayed delivery of the 787 by six months to about December 2008, instead of May 2008, due to a parts shortage and also to complete additional work previously assigned to contractors, Bloomberg News reported. Boeing's shares were down 40 cents to $92.33 in Tuesday mid-day trading.

Boeing has 762 orders for the 787, valued at about $120 billion. Analysts view an aerospace company's ability to deliver planes on time as critical to the company's future prospects, due to the high cost airlines incur for delayed planes. Delayed plane deliveries also discourage future plane orders, analysts generally agree.



In addition to the 787's next-generation passenger amenities and substantially improved fuel efficiency, the plane also serves as a touch-point in the aerospace battle between Boeing and Airbus.