The Boeing 787 Dreamliner, often shortened to Boeing 787, is an American wide-body airliner developed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. After dropping its unconventional Sonic Cruiser project, Boeing announced the conventional 7E7 on January 29, 2003, which focused largely on efficiency. The program was launched on April 26, 2004, with an order for 50 aircraft from All Nippon Airways (ANA), targeting a 2008 introduction. On July 8, 2007, a prototype 787 without major operating systems was rolled out; subsequently the aircraft experienced multiple delays, until its maiden flight on December 15, 2009. Type certification was received in August 2011, and the first 787-8 was delivered in September 2011 and entered commercial service in October 2011, with ANA.
At launch, Boeing targeted the 787 with 20% less fuel burn compared to aircraft like the Boeing 767. It could carry 200 to 300 passengers on point-to-point routes up to , a shift from hub-and-spoke travel. The twinjet is powered by General Electric GEnx or Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 high-bypass turbofans. It is the first airliner with an airframe primarily made of composite materials and makes greater use of electrical systems. Externally, it is recognizable by its four-window cockpit, raked wingtips, and noise-reducing chevrons on its engine nacelles. Development and production rely on subcontractors around the world more than for previous Boeing aircraft. Since March 2021, final assembly has been at the Boeing South Carolina factory; it was formerly in the Boeing Everett Factory in Washington state.
The initial 787-8 typically seats 248 passengers over a range of , with a MTOW compared to for later variants. The stretched 787-9, long, can fly with 296 passengers; it entered service on August 7, 2014, with All Nippon Airways. The further stretched 787-10, long, seating 336 over , entered service with Singapore Airlines on April 3, 2018.
Early 787 operations encountered several problems caused mainly by its lithium-ion batteries, including fires onboard some aircraft. In January 2013, the US FAA grounded all 787s until it approved the revised battery design in April 2013. Significant quality control issues from 2019 onward caused a production slowdown and, from January 2021 until August 2022, an almost total cessation of deliveries. The first fatal crash and hull loss of the aircraft occurred on June 12, 2025, with Air India Flight 171. A preliminary report issued on July 12 by the Indian Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau did not recommend any actions to Boeing, or 787 operators. Boeing has spent $32 billion on the program; estimates for the number of aircraft sales needed to break even vary between 1,300 and 2,000. , the 787 program has received 2,466 orders and made 1,303 deliveries.
Development Background During the late 1990s, slowing sales of the 767 and 747-400 prompted Boeing to consider replacing them. Two proposals were made: the 747X would have lengthened the 747-400 and improved its efficiency, and the Sonic Cruiser would have achieved 15% higher speeds (approximately Mach 0.98) while burning fuel at the same rate as the 767. Market interest for the 747X proposal was tepid; several major American airlines, including Continental Airlines, showed initial enthusiasm for the Sonic Cruiser, although concerns about its operating cost were expressed. The global airline market was disrupted by the 9/11 attacks and increased petroleum prices, making airlines more interested in efficiency than speed. The worst-affected airlines, those in the United States, had been considered the most likely customers for the Sonic Cruiser; thus the Sonic Cruiser was officially canceled on December 20, 2002. On January 29, 2003, Boeing announced another product, the 7E7, that would use Sonic Cruiser technology in a more conventional configuration. The emphasis on a smaller midsize twinjet rather than a large 747-size aircraft represented a shift from the hub-and-spoke theory toward the point-to-point theory, in response to analysis of focus groups.
Randy Baseler, a vice-president of marketing for Boeing Commercial Airplanes, said that airport congestion comes from large numbers of regional jets and small single-aisle planes, flying to destinations where a 550-seat Airbus A380 would be too large, and that the number of such departures could be reduced by making the smaller airplanes 20% larger and using point-to-point transit to avoid airline hubs.
In 2003, James McNerney, who was then a relatively new member of Boeing's board of directors, supported the idea for a new aircraft to regain market share from Airbus. (In 2005 he took over as CEO.) The 2003 board, which included Harry Stonecipher as CEO as well as John McDonnell, issued an ultimatum to "develop the plane for less than 40 percent of what the 777 had cost to develop 13 years earlier, and build each plane out of the gate for less than 60 percent of the 777's unit costs in 2003", and approved a development budget estimated at US$7 billion as Boeing management claimed that they would "require subcontractors to foot the majority of costs". Boeing Commercial Airplanes president Alan Mulally, who had previously served as general manager of the 777 programs, contrasted the board's approval process for the 787 with that used for the 777, saying "In the old days, you would go to the board and ask for X amount of money, and they'd counter with Y amount of money, and then you'd settle on a number, and that's what you'd use to develop the plane. These days, you go to the board, and they say, 'Here's the budget for this airplane, and we'll be taking this piece of it off the top, and you get what's left; don't fuck up.'"
The project to replace the Sonic Cruiser was named "7E7" (with a development code name of "Y2"). Technology from the Sonic Cruiser and 7E7 was to be used as part of Boeing's project to replace its entire airliner product line, an endeavor called the Yellowstone Project (of which the 7E7 became the first stage). Early concept images of the 7E7 included rakish cockpit windows, a dropped nose, and a distinctive "shark-fin" tail. The "E" was said to stand for various things, such as "efficiency" or "environmentally friendly". In the end, Boeing said it stood for "Eight". In July 2003, a public naming competition was held for the 7E7, for which out of 500,000 votes cast online the winning title was Dreamliner. Other names included eLiner, Global Cruiser, and Stratoclimber.
On April 26, 2004, Japanese airline All Nippon Airways (ANA) became the launch customer for the 787, announcing a firm order for 50 aircraft with deliveries to begin in late 2008. The ANA order was initially specified as 30 787-3, 290–330 seat, one-class domestic aircraft, and 20 787-8, long-haul, 210–250 seat, two-class aircraft for regional international routes such as Tokyo-Narita to Beijing-Capital, and could perform routes to cities not previously served, such as Denver, Moscow, and New Delhi. The 787-3 and 787-8 were to be the initial variants, with the 787-9 entering service in 2010.
On October 5, 2012, Indian state carrier Air India became the first carrier to take possession of a Dreamliner that was manufactured in the Charleston, South Carolina, Boeing plant. This was the first 787 that was manufactured outside of Washington. Boeing would go on to use both the Everett and South Carolina plants to deliver the Dreamliner.
The 787 was the first production airliner built with a fuselage comprising one-piece composite barrel sections instead of aluminum-sheet assemblies using many fasteners. Boeing selected two new engines to power the 787, the Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 and General Electric GEnx. Boeing stated the 787 would be approximately 20 percent more fuel-efficient than the 767, with approximately 40 percent of the efficiency gain from the engines, plus gains from aerodynamic improvements, increased use of lighter-weight composite materials, and advanced systems. The airframe underwent extensive structural testing during its design. The 787-8 and -9 were intended to have a certified 330-minute ETOPS capability, but entered service with 180 minutes. 330-minute certification was delayed until 2014.
During the design phase, the 787 underwent extensive wind tunnel testing at Boeing's Transonic Wind Tunnel, QinetiQ's five-meter wind tunnel at Farnborough, United Kingdom, and NASA Ames Research Center's wind tunnel, as well as at the French aerodynamics research agency, ONERA. The final styling was more conservative than earlier proposals, with the fin, nose, and cockpit windows changed to a more conventional form. By 2005, customer-announced orders and commitments for the 787 reached 237 aircraft. Boeing initially priced the 787-8 variant at US$120 million, a low figure that surprised the industry. By 2007, the list price had increased to US$157–167 million, eventually exceeding US$200 million by the time the aircraft received type certification. Airlines and lessors do not pay the full list price, with market prices for the 787-8 being up to 46% lower.
Manufacturing and suppliers On December 16, 2003, Boeing announced that the 787 would be assembled in its factory in Everett, Washington. Instead of conventionally building the aircraft from the ground up, the final assembly employed 800 to 1,200 people to join completed subassemblies and integrate systems." Boeing assigned global subcontractors to do more assembly work, delivering completed subassemblies to Boeing for final assembly. This approach was intended to result in a leaner, simpler assembly line and lower inventory, with pre-installed systems reducing final assembly time by three-quarters to three days. Subcontractors had early difficulties procuring needed parts and finishing subassemblies on schedule, leaving remaining assembly work for Boeing to complete as "traveled work". In 2010, Boeing considered in-house construction of the 787-9 tail; the tail of the 787-8 is made by Alenia. The 787 was unprofitable for some subcontractors; Alenia's parent company, Finmeccanica, had a total loss of €750 million on the project.
Subcontracted assemblies included wing and center wing box (Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Japan; Subaru Corporation, Japan); horizontal stabilizers (Alenia Aeronautica, Italy; Korea Aerospace Industries, South Korea); fuselage sections (Global Aeronautica, Italy; Boeing, North Charleston, US; Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Japan; Spirit AeroSystems, Wichita, US; Korean Air, South Korea); passenger doors (Latécoère, France); cargo doors, access doors, and crew escape door (Saab AB, Sweden); software development (HCL Enterprise, India); floor beams (TAL Manufacturing Solutions Limited, India); wiring (Labinal, France); wing-tips, flap support fairings, wheel well bulkhead, and longerons (Korean Air, South Korea); landing gear (Messier-Bugatti-Dowty, UK/France); and power distribution and management systems, air conditioning packs (Hamilton Sundstrand, Connecticut, US).
To speed up deliveries, Boeing modified four used 747-400s into 747 Dreamlifters to transport 787 wings, fuselage sections, and other smaller parts. Japanese industrial participation was key to the project. Japanese companies co-designed and built 35% of the aircraft; the first time that outside firms played a key design role on Boeing airliner wings. The Japanese government supported development with an estimated US$2 billion in loans. On April 26, 2006, Japanese manufacturer Toray Industries and Boeing signed a production agreement involving US$6 billion worth of carbon fiber, extending a 2004 contract. In May 2007, the final assembly on the first 787 began at Everett.