If we examine Boeing’s order book, it’s very clear that its 787 Dreamliner is a big
hit among airlines.
The US planemaker’s deliveries report on its website indicates that it has produced
over 1000 787s to date.
And despite an early grounding, and a few recent delivery issues, more continue to be
ordered and produced.
But did you know about the segment of Dreamliners known as the “terrible teens”?
This is a group of early-production 787s that required significant modifications, including
heavy structural reinforcement.
The end result is that the jets are much heavier than the Dreamliners that came after.
Thus, due to their weight and resulting lack of efficiency, these could be considered the
worst 787s Boeing has ever built.
In this video, we’ll look a little deeper into these jets and where they are currently
flying in 2023.
When Boeing set out to design and build a cleansheet widebody passenger aircraft, it
worked hard to incorporate many cutting edge technologies of the time, including large
sections made from composite material, propulsion with new high bypass engines, and a fly-by-wire
flight control system along with sensors to detect and counter turbulence.
Of course, for passengers, there are the electronic dimmable windows as well as the lower-altitude
cabin pressure with slightly more humid air.
As we’ve seen time and time again, developing clean sheet aircraft comes with many challenges
- not to mention cost overruns and delays.
In the case of the 787 program, some of the early production airframes are heavier and
current production models.
These jets are known as the quote-unquote “terrible teens.”
According to Business Insider, the name is due to the fact that many of these nonconforming
aircraft were between the 10th and 20th Dreamliners built.
The same website, as well as the Puget Sound Business Journal, notes that there were 12
airframes in this group, while several other sources note 11.
As some of the first Dreamliners to be built, Boeing had yet to complete the development
process of the plane.
As the website Airport Spotting notes, these ‘terrible teen’ jets were part of the
testing and early production run prior to certification.
The Seattle Times reported that these jets had faults including structural weakness where
the plane’s wings melded with the fuselage.
Needing to meet federal standards (particularly if they were to be sold), the planemaker installed
custom-fitted reinforcements.
Its these modifications that made the jets heavier.
Despite Boeing finding ways to improve on the early 787 design, the planemaker decided
to sell off the older jets anyways, despite their relative range and efficiency-related
shortcomings.
While authoritative and reliable technical data has been difficult to come by, a contributor
on the forum Airliners.net states that each ‘terrible teen’ Dreamliner is six tonnes
overweight, with all of them having their maximum takeoff weights limited to around
220 tonnes.
Sifting through other sources, ch-aviation.com data shows that some earlier 787-8s have an
MTOW set at just under 216 tonnes while others have a 219.5 tonne MTOW.
Meanwhile, as per EASA’s Type-Certificate Data Sheet published in April 2022, the 787-8’s
MTOW is now set at nearly 228 tonnes.
Looking back, it appears that Boeing had customers lined up for these jets.
Indeed, airline liveries had been applied on these aircraft as there was an expectation
that they would be sold off after testing.
As Matt Falcus of Airport Spotting noted,
“When I visited Everett in 2012 many of these aircraft were parked up wearing the
liveries of the airlines that they had originally been lined up for – the likes of All Nippon
Airways and Royal Air Maroc.”
However, not all of the intended customers would want these heavier jets.
As the Seattle Times noted, All Nippon Airways (ANA) and other early Dreamliner customers
“opted to ditch the teens for planes manufactured with the enhancements.”
In fact, these “terrible teens” would sit at Boeing facilities between 2010 and
2016.
““They’ve been here a long time.
Nothing’s going on.
Parts are missing,” a former Boeing physicist said to the KUOW radio station in 2014.
It wouldn’t be until around 2013 or 2014 that Boeing put some extra energy into selling
the aircraft.
As noted by an aerospace analyst in 2014, there was a quote “diversion of personnel
and resources needed to deal with unprofitable aircraft.”
In the same Seattle Times article, a Boeing spokesperson stated, “We are actively marketing
those airplanes and have several available opportunities.”
Boeing and its early 787 airframes would make the news in 2015 and 2016 as customers would
be found for these heavier jets.
With this in mind, let’s see if we can figure out who these jets were intended for and where
each one ended up.
Sources note that these ‘terrible teen’ aircraft are all 787-8s that have Line Numbers
10 through 22 and so this is where we will begin our search.
However, it’s also worth noting that some 787s sold off after the terrible teens are
still considered heavier than the latest Dreamliners being produced.
This includes a number of 787-8s flying for Air India.
All data in this next section is courtesy of Planespotters.net.
Line No. 10 is now registered ET-ATG and is operated by Ethiopian Airlines.
The jet was delivered to Ethiopian in June 2017 and has Chile’s LAN Airlines and Indonesia’s
Lion Air as previous customers who chose not to take the aircraft.
Line No. 11 is now registered HL8508.
The jet was intended for ANA but was then changed to Russian carrier Transaero.
Neither operator actually took delivery of the aircraft and it appears that the 787 became
a Boeing Business Jet in 2015.
Quite interestingly, this aircraft suffered a forward gear collapse in 2018.
This was due to a misplaced nose landing gear pin during maintenance.
This sounds quite similar to a British Airways incident we covered in 2021.
Eventually, however, the aircraft was sold off to Korean Air Lines and is still listed
as being in a VIP configuration.
Line Numbers 12, 13, and 14 have similar fates and now operate with Ethiopian Airlines under
registrations ET-ATL, ATJ, and ATK, respectively.
ANA was the original customer for all three jets while Lion Air and Transaero are also
listed as interim intended customers that never took delivery of the aircraft.
Line No. 15 now operates as F-OLRB with Air Austral.
Delivered in October 2016, the aircraft was intended for ANA, and then Lion Air, but was
not taken up by either airline.
Line No. 16 also went to Ethiopian Airlines and is now registered ET-ATH.
Delivered to the airline in March 2017, the jet was intended for LAN and then Lion Air
but was accepted by neither.
Line No. 17 is an interesting case as it doesn’t appear to currently be in service.
Originally intended for Royal Air Maroc, the jet appears to have gone to Crystal Luxury
Air as N947BA.
It then went to TVPX Trust Services in 2019 and eventually the Bank of Utah in 2022.
It was reported by The Points Guy in 2021 that the jet was sold to Resorts World Last
Vegas but its unclear if the deal went through, considering it hasn’t flown since then.
The 787 now sits inactive in Victorville, California.
With five more jets to go, Line No. 18 also went to Ethiopian Airlines and is now registered
ET-ATI.
ANA was the first intended customer while Lion Air appears to have also wanted the jet
at one point.
Line No. 19 was intended for Royal Air Maroc and then Rwandair but taken up by neither.
It was then registered with a private owner as VP-CSC in 2017.
Japan Airlines took Line Numbers 20 and 21 in 2013, registering them as JA821J and 823J,
respectively.
And finally, Line No. 22 went to Air Austral in 2016 and is registered F-OLRC.
Its original customer was ANA, and then Transaero.
The Seattle Times noted in 2014 that buyers would have likely paid less than half of the
$211.8 million list price for a brand new 787-8.
Indeed, aviation consultant Douglas Kelly told the media outlet that the the 787 teens
had a market value of $115 million each for a single-unit or small lot sale, but that
airlines would have demanded discounts of 10-15% for the jets.
Despite their heavier weight, the 787s would have had the same warranties as new aircraft,
along with an estimated 10 percent fuel savings over Airbus A330-200s.
Their range is said to be about 1,000 nautical miles less than later Dreamliners.
Considering this handicap still allows operators to take the Dreamliner quite far, some carriers
might have secured a fairly good deal for the jets.
FlightRadar24.com notes that Ethiopian Airlines flies one of its ‘terrible teen’ jets
as far as Singapore from its Addis Ababa hub.
So, that’s our summary of Boeing’s group of 787 Dreamliners dubbed the ‘terrible
teens.’
Based purely on weight and resulting fuel burn, they could very well be considered Boeing’s
worst 787s.
But, while the company may have had a hard time selling the jets, it looks like the airlines
that scooped them up are operating them quite regularly these days.
Did you know about this group of aircraft?
Do you think you’ve flown on any of them?
Share your thoughts and experiences by leaving a comment!