Boeing today announced a third major delay for the 787 programme that postpones first flight and first delivery by another roughly six months, as well as slashes planned aircraft production in 2009 by 75%.

The company blamed the most recent delay on slower-than-expected progress on reducing travelled worked reaching the final assembly line, unexpected rework tasks and the addition of more time to complete flight tests.

In addition, Boeing has delayed first delivery of the stretched 787-9 by two years to 2012. This means the shortened 787-3 will become the second version of the baseline design to enter service.

“Our revised schedule is built upon an achievable, high-confidence plan for getting us to our power-on and first-flight milestones,” Boeing Commercial Airplanes CEO and President Scott Carson says in a company statement issued today. <IMG style=”WIDTH: 445px; HEIGHT: 296px” alt=”" src=”..

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