Tanker-program spokesman Jerry Drelling also said that after the 767-based tankers roll off the commercial assembly line in Everett, Boeing workers will install military systems in the aircraft inside the large modification facility at the south end of Paine Field, sharing the building with Commercial Airplanes mechanics conducting extensive rework on the early 787 Dreamliners.

Jim Eisenhart, director of business development for the tanker program, gave the updated schedule for first flight at a Pacific Northwest Aerospace Alliance (PNAA) defense conference at Seattle’s Museum of Flight.

Despite the delay, he said Boeing remains on track to fulfill its contract requirement of having 18 tankers built and ready to deploy by late 2017.

Boeing has struggled to install complex wiring bundles on the first four test planes, which are already built and parked on the ramp at Paine Field in Everett.

In July, the company recorded a $425 million charge for the expense of removing and reinstalling wiring on all four aircraft as well as additional engineering work.

Eisenhart said the 767-based tanker aircraft has some 1,800 wire bundles compared with the roughly 700 wire bundles on a commercial 767.

“That level of complexity was what drove the wiring challenges,” he said.

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