Jan. 16 (Bloomberg) -- Boeing Co. delayed the first test flight of the 787 Dreamliner by about three months to almost July and said it won't start deliveries until early 2009, the second setback for the planemaker's most successful new jetliner based on orders.

The Dreamliner was already six months behind schedule and continues to be hurt by incomplete parts being delivered to Chicago-based Boeing, which has racked up 817 orders valued at more than $120 billion at list prices. There will be ``no material impact'' on the earnings forecast for 2008, the world's second-biggest commercial planemaker said in a statement today.

``This is difficult call to make, but one that is right for the program,'' Scott Carson, Boeing's chief executive officer commercial aircraft, said on a conference call. ``We're deeply disappointed by what this delay means for our customers.''

Boeing will no longer be able to deliver 109 Dreamliners in 2009 as planned, said Carson, who is sending supervisors to the factories of suppliers where delays are occurring. Delivery of aircraft is critical to earnings because manufacturers book sales when a plane is handed over to the customer. The first test flight was postponed today until late in the second quarter, instead of in March.

Airbus SAS today held onto its rank as the world's biggest planemaker, beating Boeing in 2007 deliveries and narrowing the gap in orders. The Toulouse, France-based manufacturer delivered 453 aircraft, 19 more than the year before and 12 more than Boeing, Chief Executive Officer Tom Enders said today. Net orders totaled 1,341, compared with 1,413 at Boeing.

Boeing Shares

Boeing said it expects no ``material impact'' to the forecast it gave Oct. 24 for 2008 profit of $5.55 to $5.75 a share. Boeing rose $2.01, or 2.6 percent, to $79.87 at 4:05 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange trading. The shares declined 4.6 percent yesterday, after the Wall Street Journal reported the delay was imminent, and have fallen 9.2 percent in the past year.

Boeing on Oct. 10 delayed the first delivery from May of this year until November or December because of parts shortages and so it could complete work suppliers should have finished. Some companies, such as Finmeccanica SpA's Alenia unit and Carlyle Group's Vought Aircraft Industries Inc., fell behind schedule early in the program.

``With the 787, Boeing is trying things at a level that haven't been attempted in the industry,'' such as a moving assembly line, reliance on vendors for large parts of the aircraft, and carbon-fiber wings and fuselage, said Matthew Spahn, an analyst at TCW Group in New York, which owns about 1.4 million Boeing shares.

`Notoriously Difficult'

``Given that, it's notoriously difficult to predict with any accuracy when the project will finish,'' Spahn said.

The financial outlook will be updated when Boeing reports earnings on Jan. 30, the company's statement said. A profit forecast for 2009 will be given in April when Boeing's first- quarter results are released and an assessment of 787 schedule changes has been completed, the company said.

Today's delay and ``no guarantee that there will not be further push-outs, leaves Boeing investors in a difficult position,'' Robert Stallard, an aerospace analyst at Banc of America Securities in New York, said in a report.

Fitch Ratings today lowered its outlook on Boeing credit to ``stable'' from ``positive'' following the delivery postponement. Moody's Investors Service reiterated its ``A2'' rating and ``stable'' outlook.

Dreamliner Technology

Boeing is building more than half of the plane with carbon- fiber composites instead of aluminum, making it the first airliner of its kind. The Dreamliner is also Boeing's first attempt at a production process where suppliers deliver fully completed wing and fuselage parts.

``Completing the first plane is setting the pace to first flight,'' 787 program manager Pat Shanahan said on the call. ``If anything has been learned here, it's how long it will take to complete somebody else's work. We thought we could modify our final assembly system to accommodate suppliers' work. We were wrong.''

Supplying power to the Dreamliner, which was slated for this month, is now being moved back to March, Shanahan said. He was named to replace Michael Bair, who had been responsible for the Dreamliner since the project began in July 2004, less than a week after the 787 was first delayed in October.

Spirit AeroSystems Holdings Inc., a former Boeing unit which is in charge of building the 787's nose, called the postponement ``disappointing'' and said it won't have a ``material impact'' on 2007 earnings. The Wichita, Kansas-based company plans to work with Boeing to assess the need for revised delivery schedules this year, it said in a statement.

Qantas Orders

Qantas Airways Ltd. said the delay will affect the planned international expansion of low-cost carrier Jetstar in the short-term. The airline, which won't take delivery of the 787 until May 2009, said earnings won't be hurt by the postponement. Qantas plans to talk to Boeing about damages in coming weeks, the company said in a statement. Qantas has 65 orders for the Dreamliner, and the first 15 will be used by Jetstar on international routes.

Airbus's answer to the Dreamliner is the A350, which also uses carbon-fiber construction for wings and fuselage. That aircraft now has 292 orders, Airbus announced today. The companies are building lighter, fuel-efficient aircraft to meet the demands of airlines worldwide that are suffering losses because of record-high oil prices.

`We've Been There'

``We know how it feels -- we've been there'' with program delays, Enders said at a briefing in Toulouse. Enders said the 787 delay is not an occasion for ``schadenfreude,'' the German expression for deriving pleasure from the misfortunes of others.

The new A350 widebody was redesigned five times to win airline approval, pushing deliveries to 2013, four years behind Boeing's 787 Dreamliner.

To contact the reporter on this story: James Gunsalus in Seattle at jgunsalus@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: January 16, 2008 19:00 EST