By the time ZBLA is delivered, it may be near its retirement! :D

Have United and Singapore Airlines been sharing copies of their snagging sheets?

BA have, themselves, considerable experience with the 787. Wikipedia suggests they are the 9th largest customer for it. I suspect they have built up a fair knowledge of what to look for and exactly what these airplanes look like after 7 years of hard labour in the BA fleet. Im looking forward to seeing what the Club Suite is like on the -10. Between them the 787 and A350 are the future of the long-haul fleet. With the rapid retirement of the global A380 fleet, I do wonder if it will ever be reconfigured with CS now. Which would be a real shame, even with NGCW the A380 is a fantastic in-flight experience.

I wanna know what sort of wifi they've got. The Gogo system that has been retrofitted on the other 787s or the Panasonic system that's factory fitted on the A350s. I've seen speculation it's going to be Panasonic (thus vastly overpriced at the moment) but I haven't seen it confirmed.

Yes, but any information from SQ and UA regarding snags on their B787-10s would enable BA to create an 8,9 &10 full snagging checklist.

Airframe documentation is shared by the OEM, and there are local reps looking into the build, so there's not really a need for a "snagging sheet". Also, there can be specific issues affecting a specific aircraft, or a sub-type, or a type of equipment that only one airline has (example: the flooring and overall trim on the Etihad A380 because of the apartment thingy). Having said that, airline employees talk to each other: the first news of Trent 1000 issues came to BA from Royal Brunei.

I didn't realise that G-ZBJB was delivered before JA (only days it appears). Do we think it is more likely that G-ZBLB will arrive before G-ZBLA? What's the delivery schedule for G-ZBLB?

I don't think they will upgrade the A380 to include the CS, unless something (equally) dramatic happens that makes it more economical relative speaking. I think putting the CS in the A380 would have been interesting given the cabin widths for main and upper deck probably resulting in a complete reconfiguration of the passenger space, but I don't think we'll ever know. And I agree - as a passenger I really like the A380!

rb211.

The -10 will be delivered with Panasonic IFE and WiFi.

I don’t know what bit is more exiting, the fact it’ll have WiFi or the fact it will be delivered :p.

Whilst BA and VA are competitors, at an engineering level they talk to each other as they share equipment, and first and foremost for those staff, safety is their priority.

Now due for delivery on 1st July.

Lets hope so. However as we've seen with the previous dates, a lot can change in a week.

Actually they are planned for the 28th June and 1st July, but I'm not sure which way round they are coming, do you know?

Engine OEMs have regular link calls/conferences with airlines as a group, where technical issues are discussed openly

Oh is G-ZBLB due too?

I am pretty sure it’s LA due on the 1st but I hadn’t heard a date for LB.

G-ZBLA did another flight this evening...

Any news on what their first routes will be?

Do they need to spend some time going through crew familiarisation etc?

Was recently stated that they’ll be used on ‘cargo’ flights however I’ve seen something else recently suggesting that ATL is back on the cards as the first destination. Training for flight crew is an iBook, Cabin Crew will be something similar. No familiarisation needed, it’s just the estate version of a -8/-9 ;)

What's the procedure once a new aircraft arrives in the fleet...lots of engineering checks?

Any idea when they're scheduled to be out flying?

It will probably be flying within a week. Two weeks max. Once all the manuals have been finalised and additional engineering checks over and above those already done before delivery.

What do we think are the chances of them arriving on time...?!

Does anyone have the delivery schedule?

LA on the 28th, LB on the 1st, thus far.

G-ZBLB is currently on another flight.

Any idea what time they're due in?

9am ish

My prediction is, just like user names, two will come at once!

I am really looking forward to the -10 I think it's the best looking in the 787 family. I also suspect it will be a LARGE role in the 777 replacement program. I hope they both fly over central London on their delivery flight so I can catch a glimpse!

Are you expecting both to be delivered on the same day?

Interesting point. BA has 40 or so 77Es which should be replaced in the late 20s/early 30s. They largely operate routes within the 8-10 flight time threshold (Caribbean, Nigeria, Kenya, East Coast, Middle East) with a handful of exceptions: BKK, CPT, EZE, PVG.

From memory, a 78K with a dense cabin (330 passengers) has a range of 7000nm, not so much because there isn't enough fuel - actually the tanks will be only 80-85% full if memory serves me well - but because the MTOW is passed. BA's plane will have much less seats (something in the region of the 250 on the 77Es? again, going from memory), so range could be larger. It could cover all of the 77Es routes, however I doubt that the replacement will be 1:1, i.e. where there was a 77E now there's a 78K; BKK, EZE could be replaced with an A35K.

I guess we'll see more 78K orders for BA in the future, but probably these will have a different config, with a cabin crew bunk section. Right now none of the forthcoming BA birds have it and that effectively limits their range to a flight of the length of a LHR-SEA mission.

Do none of the BA 78s have bunks? How did they operate the Santiago route?

788s and 789s do. 78Ks won’t.

To be precise: all 787s have flight crew rest areas; 788 and 789 have cabin crew rest areas; 78Ks, at least in the current config, won’t. Nothing stops BA from sacrificing a few Y seats to accommodate it on future orders; and I believe it can be retrofitted.

B78X, A35K.

B78K is some kind of Boeing/Airbus mash-up.

Which might not be a bad idea. Just imagine if that happened....

With regards to future orders - BA don't have any options left on the 787 so what's on the order book is the lot for now. They have options for 24 777X as well as the 18 on order so, at least pre-covid, that's the medium term taken care of. They also have options for more A350s.
Of course, all bets are off now but I really can't see BA ordering more 787s for at least five or six years meaning no deliveries for maybe ten years or more after the current batch of -10s are delivered.

I know the 777X order will be topped up because BA have 6 extra commitments to convert options to orders at a later date. But I don’t think those are for the 77Es it will be a massive up-gauge. I think BA will use those remaining 777xs to replace the 777-300ers in the fullness of time AND the 380s as well. For the 77Es the A350 options are for both variants so the 900 can very well make an appearance in the BA fleet

Indeed, ICAO using B78X and A35K while IATA have designated them 781 and 351.
Within forums, it is commonplace to drop the B when referring to Boeing types like 744 and 77W, so following IATA. But for Airbus, it’s more common to keep the A, so following ICAO as in A388 and A35K.

Never say never, but the BA position is that the cabin crew rest module adds too much weight to make the aircraft efficient to operate. Would be interesting to understand the extent of the impact the module really has. However given the relatively small number of these aircraft on order, they would likely just be enough to cover a small number of shorter flights that don't need the crew rest facilities.

Given that BA let their 787 options expire, I doubt they will get anymore. When they’re all delivered, BA will have 42 787s which is a large fleet anyway.

They’re impressed with the A350 and have a lot of options so I think that will win the next order. That combined with the 777X to replace the 747s and A380s.

Also, the leading A is part of the Airbus model designation (e.g Airbus A350) whereas a 787 is not a Boeing B787 :)

Are we still on for the 28th? This is usually about the time they back out of scheduled date