Parts didn’t click together for Boeing jet

Plug and play — a concept that allows buyers of computers and electronic games to avoid frustrating assembly — is proving difficult for Boeing, which staked its 787 Dreamliner on a far-flung network of suppliers that would send what amounts to snap-on components to a plant for final assembly. Instead, Boeing has ended up with a pile of parts and wires, and lots of questions about how they all fit together, not unlike a frustrating Christmas morning at home. So on Wednesday, Boeing disclosed another delay in test-flying and delivering the first 787 and said complications with suppliers had made it impossible to predict how soon full-scale production could begin. Boeing was also left to deal with credibility problems that occur with multiple delays,

Jetstar Airways Pte, the budget airline unit of Qantas Airways Ltd., will get compensation from Boeing Co.

for the delay in delivery of the 787 aircraft. The 787 delay will force Jetstar to postpone the start of flights to Europe for “a few months,” said Alan Joyce, the unit’s chief executive, speaking to reporters in Singapore. Boeing’s second delay of the 787 Dreamliner will hinder Jetstar’s expansion plans, including setting up new bases in Southeast Asia. The carrier will get its first 787 in May, 2009, nine months behind schedule. “It doesn’t affect our existing operations, but our long- haul operations get delayed for a few months,” Joyce said.