[ubernostrum]

the timing of this article is interesting

Earlier today a story about China buying the AN-225 was on the front page and lots of people were confused about why they needed to buy the full toolchain for manufacturing it, instead of just buying one plane and reverse-engineering how to build it.

Several people then pointed out the difficulty of manufacturing modern engine components, particularly the blades, and it was kind of inevitable an article about that would follow soon after.

Also, ANA's 787s are a bit of a weird case in that ANA puts far more cycles on those engines than a typical operator. Most 787 operators use them for long-haul flights, 8-12 hours airborne at a time and only one or two flights per 24-hour period. ANA, on the other hand, flies 787s on much shorter domestic routes, meaning more cycles of spin-up/shut-down. Given that ANA was the first operator and puts way more stress on the engine than anyone else, it's unsurprising that they would see accelerated wear.