Boeing Co. said it expects to finish flight tests for the 787 Dreamliner this weekend and to get approval from the Federal Aviation Administration next week, in time to meet its target of delivering the plane in September.

Getting the plane to its first customer, Japan's All Nippon Airways Co., will be "difficult," just as other milestones have been, Jim Albaugh, the planemaker's commercial chief, said today at a conference hosted by Jefferies & Co. in New York.

"The good news is we only have 24 hours left in our flight test program, and we hope to complete the flight test program probably sometime this weekend," Albaugh said. "We think the FAA will hold their type certification review board next week, and we hope to get our ticket so we can start delivering the 787 yet this month."

The Dreamliner, the world's first composite-plastic airliner, is more than three years behind schedule amid struggles with the new materials and production system Boeing developed for it. It's still Chicago-based Boeing's most popular new plane ever, with about 830 orders from 52 customers, and is sold out through 2019, Albaugh said.

Next Challenge

The production increase is the next challenge, he said. In July Boeing froze the assembly line for another month to let suppliers catch up. The rate will go back to two a month beginning in a week or so and then will rise to 2.5 about a month after that, with increases continuing until workers reach 10 a month in 2013, Albaugh said. That will be a record rate for a wide-body aircraft.

The supply chain "looks pretty good," Albaugh said, adding that the "pinch point" is still the South Carolina factory Boeing bought from Vought Aircraft Holdings Inc. and Global Aeronautica. That plant assembles part of the fuselage for the 787 and is adjacent to a new facility Boeing is setting up for final assembly.

The FAA is meeting this week to review the 747-8, another airliner that is the biggest version of the jumbo jet Boeing has ever built, Albaugh said. That plane has completed its flight tests and the regulator should give its approval in a couple of weeks, with first delivery also slated for September, he said. The improvements will extend the life of the 41-year-old aircraft by another three or four decades, Albaugh said.

Next Steps

Boeing won't build another all-new plane until sometime next decade, after last month's decision to offer new engines to improve the narrow-body 737, he said. The company hasn't yet decided whether to replace the 737 next or to offer something to fill the gap left when the larger 757 went out of production, he said.

In the meantime, the "very modest" cost of adding new engines to the 737 rather than replacing it frees up cash to improve the 777 and do a stretched version of the 787 to compete with larger rival Airbus SAS, he said. The company is in talks with half a dozen airlines about the "777-X," he said.

"Decisions we make and how we execute over the next couple of years will really set the tone for what kind of company we are in decades to come," Albaugh said.

Albaugh said he wouldn't be surprised if Boeing takes in more orders this year than it fills. The company booked new contracts for 19 more 777s in the past week, bringing its net orders so far this year to 268. Boeing said last month it will deliver 485 to 495 planes in 2011.

Boeing rose US$1.44, or 2.5 percent, to US$58.85 at 4:01 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading amid a broad market recovery. The shares are down 9.8 percent this year.