In a new problem for the already stressed 787 Dreamliner agenda, Boeing Co. in the wee hours of Friday broadcast a new holdup that will push the initial delivery of the airplane into the half of the first quarter of the coming year.

The latest snafu comprises of British engine supplier Rolls Royce PLC. Rolls are one of two firms picked by Boeing to make and provide engines on the latest and new, carbon-fiber composite Dreamliner wide-body jet. In accordance to a statement released by Boeing on Friday, the new delay follows due to an assessment of the accessibility of an engine required for the end stages of flight test this fall.

Boeing has claimed all year that the initial production Dreamliner would be handed over to launch customer All Nippon Airways Co. by the finish of 2010, however in the last six weeks Boeing executives have been openly getting customers and investors prepared for yet another delay.

Officials from Rolls Royce could not right away be accessed for comment. Boeing said the timetable change won't have an effect on its financial guidance.

Boeing has also been coming to grips since June with manufacturing defects that were discovered in the plane's tail area. The troubled components are made in Italy by a major Boeing supplier, Alenia Aeronautica SpA. Those problems have needed noteworthy inspections on the fleet of six Dreamliner test planes, in addition to a number of production airplanes that have already been put together but are parked outside Seattle in anticipation of their engines.

The Dreamliner is by now almost three years behind its timetable and Boeing has coughed up billions of dollars in fines to its airline customers as well as hurting the company's trustworthiness in the market.