Although Boeing is touting the continuing sales success of its yet-to-be-built 787 aircraft, the manufacturer is still tweaking the design to bring it within the target weight, Boeing Commercial Airplanes head Scott Carson said yesterday.

There has been no change to the weight problem since late October, when executives estimated that a 2% weight reduction would be required (DAILY, Oct. 26), said Carson at an Aviation Week/Credit Suisse finance conference in New York. Engineers are looking for ways to take weight out, and the company has repeatedly said it is not unduly concerned because aircraft are typically overweight at this stage of their development. "We understand well what we have to do on the weight side," said Carson.

There is no one area to blame for the extra weight, which is spread throughout the aircraft, Carson said. Everything from the wingbox to the tail and wiring is slightly heavier than expected, he conceded. The first six 787s to be built -- to be used for testing and certification -- will probably be overweight, and Boeing's focus is on making sure the weight target is met from the seventh aircraft onward, said Carson.

Despite the aircraft's battle with the scales, the program remains on schedule, and engine development is actually ahead of schedule, said Carson. The aircraft is estimated to be about 2% more efficient than the targets promised to customers. Sales for the 787 are beyond Boeing's expectations, and "to say that market enthusiasm continues unabated" is actually a "profound understatement," Carson said. So far, the program has 456 announced orders and commitments from 36 customers.

Boeing also has "a number of... campaigns underway" for the passenger version of its 747-8, Carson said. The company yesterday finally recorded its first order for the passenger version of this aircraft (see related story). Carson would not give specifics about which airlines are involved in these campaigns, but he said Boeing has been working with carriers that are already major operators of the 747-400 passenger aircraft.