Nov. 4 (Bloomberg) -- Boeing Co., the world's second-largest planemaker, will delay the first test flight of the new 787 Dreamliner beyond the fourth quarter because of the just-ended machinists strike.

No new timeframe for the flight has been established yet, Yvonne Leach, a spokeswoman for the Chicago-based company, said in an interview today.

The 787's first delivery to customers has already been delayed three times and was running 15 months late before an eight-week-long machinists' strike that ended Nov. 2. The earlier delays were due to parts shortages and problems with the new production process, which uses suppliers around the world. Boeing previously said the strike would cause a ``day-for-day'' delay without updating the first-flight date of November that program manager Pat Shanahan gave in July.

``This reflects the reality of what a lot of us have been expecting for a while,'' Peter Arment, a Greenwich, Connecticut- based analyst with American Technology Research, said in an interview today. ``There are still a number of difficult hurdles before first flight.''

The Dreamliner probably won't fly for the first time until February or March, which may push deliveries into the second quarter of 2010, Arment said.

Boeing gained 77 cents to $53.62 at 4 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The stock has dropped 39 percent this year.

Customer, Suppliers

The Dreamliner's first customer, Japan's All Nippon Airways, said in September that Boeing had told it before the strike to expect the first plane next August.

The 57-day strike by machinists shut down the planemaker's factories, costing Boeing about $100 million in lost revenue each day.

Boeing's confirmation of the strike-related delay followed recent comments from suppliers that the program would slip. Rockwell Collins Inc., maker of cockpit instruments and communication systems for the new plane, said yesterday the 787 probably won't enter service in the third quarter of 2009 as Boeing had forecast.

Goodrich Corp., which makes brakes, engine housings and other parts for the 787, said Oct. 23 that the strike probably would push the plane's service entry to 2010.

Boeing also said today the program suffered a setback after it discovered about 3 percent of the fasteners used to hold the jets together were improperly installed and need to be replaced.

The company is now studying how long the strike and fastener replacement will delay the program, spokeswoman Mary Hanson said in an interview.

``We've become accustomed to disappointment on the 787,'' Rob Stallard, a New York-based analyst with Macquarie Research Equities, said in an interview today. ``It's the way things have been on the program for a while.''

The fastener issue was reported earlier today by Air Transport World's ATWOnline.com.

To contact the reporter on this story: Susanna Ray in Seattle at sray7@bloomberg.net; Edmond Lococo in Boston at elococo@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: November 4, 2008 16:20 EST