American Airlines 1st 787-8 rolls out of the paint shop

The first Boeing 787-8 bound for American Airlines has rolled out of the paint shop at the airframer’s Everett, Washington, facility.

American Airlines

The aircraft, which is registered N800AN and MSN 40618, is scheduled for delivery to the Fort Worth, Texas-based carrier in November and expected to enter service on domestic routes in the first quarter of 2015.

American has yet to disclose what routes the 787 will fly or where it will be based.

"You need to spend some time with a new aircraft type flying it around until you have a critical mass where you can actually do an international route," said Doug Parker, chairman and chief executive of American, in an interview with Flightglobal in July. "You need more than one airplane to fly international routes."

The carrier kept customers and employees up to date on the assembly of the its first Dreamliner by posting pictures of it at the various positions on Boeing’s final assembly line on social media.

The 787 at the 1A position in September

(American Airlines)

American anticipates taking delivery of two 787-8s this year with another 11 aircraft due in 2015.

The airline has firm orders for 16 787-8s and 26 787-9s.

(Edward Russell - FlightGlobal News)