Boeing Co. said on Tuesday it would reassess its 787 Dreamliner aircraft delivery schedule for the Japanese market when an ongoing strike ends, raising concern that a prolonged production halt could further push back deliveries.

Japan’s two biggest airlines – Japan Airlines Corp (JAL) and All Nippon Airways (ANA) – have already announced expected delays in receiving the 787 jets in the face of a machinists’ strike that came on top of an 18-month delay in the shipment of the planes.

Japan’s second-largest carrier ANA is also the launch customer for the 787 Dreamliner, a mid-sized long-haul twin-jet designed to save fuel, and will be the first to fly one. The CEO of ANA got a five-minute standing ovation from 15,000 Boeing employees when the 787 was rolled out in Seattle last July.

But because of the production delay, ANA is now expecting to receive its first 787 in August 2009 – 15 months later than originally planned.

To cover its capacity needs until the 787 delivery, ANA has decided to introduce nine Boeing 767-300ER aircraft in the 2010 and 2011 business years.

JAL, one of Boeing’s most loyal customers, also said last week that it agreed with Boeing to postpone the first 787 delivery for 14 months until October 2009 and introduce a total of 11 Boeing 777 and 767 aircraft to meet its capacity needs.

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