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Old 26th Oct 2007, 15:48
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bjones4
 
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The circumstances surrounding the 728 though were different to what the A380 has and what the 787 is currently facing.

Airbus and Boeing are both in a strong position as they persevere with their respective technical problems, whereas Fairchild Dornier were having problems long before the 728 was supposed to fly and it was the companies instability and subsequent collapse that brought the program to an end, not any problem with the aircraft itself. When FD initially filed for insolvency the two biggest customers, GECAS and Lufthansa cancelled their orders pretty sharpish, so when the company started work again with support from Chinese backers it didn't have much going for it on the sales front, they then collapsed for a second time when China refused to give it more credit.

I dont think theres any question that the 787 will fly... at some point... the big question is when, the current schedule puts it towards the end of Q1 2008 so March/April.
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