AerCap chief sees more Boeing 787 delays

By Bill Rigby

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The head of one of the world's biggest plane-leasing companies said on Thursday he expects more delays on Boeing Co's (BA.N) new 787 Dreamliner, only a month after the U.S. planemaker put back initial deliveries on its revolutionary aircraft by six months.

The comments, by AerCap Holdings NV (AER.N) Chief Executive Klaus Heinemann, come as Boeing scrambles to get its most successful plane project back on track, and looks to avoid creeping delays like those suffered by rival Airbus.

"Before 2008 is over, the delay (on the 787) may be a little more than what Boeing currently admits to," said Heinemann in a telephone interview on Thursday. "The current assessment of the delay by Boeing is generally viewed in the market as an optimistic assessment."

Boeing representatives did not immediately return calls for comment on Thursday.

The Chicago-based company has orders for 736 of the lightweight, carbon-composite planes -- worth about $120 billion at list prices -- but is struggling with out-of-sequence work and a shortage of bolts on the first few models.

Last month it pushed back the first test flight to next year and postponed initial deliveries of the plane by at least six months to late November or December 2008 versus an original target of May 2008.

Heinemann reckons initial deliveries will probably be on time, but Boeing may miss its ambitious targets for 2009.

"Where the market has doubts is not so much on Boeing's assessment on the first delivery, toward the end of next year," Heinemann said. "Where the market has some doubts is with respect to the ramp-up of the production capacity for the aircraft during 2009."

Even adjusting for the six-month delay, Boeing said last month it was still aiming to deliver 109 787s by the end of 2009, only three fewer than originally planned. Boeing said 30 to 35 plane deliveries originally scheduled for next year are likely to be pushed into 2009, implying an even sharper-than-expected production ramp-up in 2009.

Some Wall Street analysts and airline operators have already expressed concern about Boeing meeting its new schedule. The issue could prove costly for Boeing if it has to compensate airlines for late deliveries, as Airbus did for delays of up to two years on its A380 superjumbo.

AerCap, one of the top 10 global aircraft lessors, is not a 787 customer and has not bought any planes directly from Boeing, but Heinemann said he is "in favor of a more balanced portfolio."

The Dutch firm's 325-strong fleet of aircraft is predominantly made up of Airbus planes, chiefly because AerCap used to be part-owned by Germany's Daimler (DAIGn.DE), a major shareholder of Airbus' parent EADS (EAD.PA).

AerCap, which reported a rise in quarterly profit on Thursday, is one of a handful of second-tier aircraft lessors, in an industry dominated by two giants, International Lease Finance Corp, which is a unit of insurer American International Group Inc (AIG.N), and General Electric Co's(GE.N) GECAS unit.