Boeing's 787 technical problems could be more severe than the company has admitted.

Engineers working on the fix for a weak joint between the composite airliner's wings and its body told the Seattle Times this week that the joint failed in testing much earlier than the company's computer models had predicted.

The problems with that joint are what is delaying the first flight of the Dreamliner, Boeing's nickmane for the revolutionary twin-engine airliner.

Under severe stress the composite wing reinforcements began to delaminate, break apart where the layers of composite fabric are joined together, the Times said.

Boeing says it is designing a remedy for the structural problem, but it doesn't yet know how long it will take to retrofit the test aircraft.

Some outside experts are predicting the plane won't take its first flight until December or January.

In other 787 news, the company designing braking software for the plane is in a dispute with Boeing over who should pay to rewrite that software.

Crane Co. contends that Boeing changed the aircraft design, necessitating the software rewrite. Boeing says the software changes should be done on Crane's nickel.

Boeing's newest war plane, a modified version of its popular 737 airliner, made its formal debut in Renton today.

The plane, a militarized version of the 737-800 airliner that equips many airline fleets, is designed for maritime patrol and surveillance.

The plane, the P-8A Poseidon, can even deploy weaponry from its retrofitted bomb bay to destroy enemy submarines at sea.

The plane, built on a special assembly line at Renton, will replace another aircraft that began its life as an airliner but which was converted to a patrol aircraft for the Navy.

That aircraft, the P-3C Orion, is the former Lockheed Electra, a four-engine aircraft equipped with Allison turbo-prop engines. The Electra had a relatively brief career in the airline business in the late '50s and '60s, but was quickly replaced by faster jets.

The P-3C, however, enjoyed a career of more than 40 years as the Navy's front line patrol aircraft.

The P-8A will have greater payload, quicker deployment to patrol areas and higher technology detection equipment.

The Navy plans to buy 117 P-8As. Other nations including India and Australia are expected to buy the P-8A for their marine patrol needs.

Dubai-based Emirates became the world's largest operator of Boeing's twin-jet 777 airliner with the delivery of its 78th 777 in ceremonies at Boeing's Everett plant.

Emirates operates the full range of 777 models including the -200, -300, the -200LR (longer range) and the 777 Freighter.

The airline has an additional 28 777s on order valued at more than $7 billion at list prices, said Boeing.

Emirates accepted its first 777 in 1996. The airline's business plan calls for making Dubai a worldwide hub for flights between Europe, Asia, Africa and North America.

If Southwest Airlines is successful in its bid for Denver's bankrupt Frontier Airlines, the takeover could open up an additional market for Boeing.

Southwest announced today it will enter a bid in bankruptcy court next month to assume control over the Colorado-based low-cost carrier.

Southwest's biggest rival is expected to be Republic Airlines of Indianapolis.

A successful Southwest bid would substantially bolster Southwest's presence in Denver. The Dallas-based Southwest shunned Denver for years because of the presence of United Airlines' big hub operation there and the high costs of operating at Denver's relatively new airport.

But in recent years, Southwest has established an ever-larger presence at Denver in competition with United and Frontier, which also hubs its flights in Denver.

If Southwest wins the bidding, the company said it will continue operating Frontier as a stand-alone subsidiary until Southwest can gradually integrate its operation into Southwest's.

That's where the good news comes for Boeing. Southwest is an all-Boeing operation with only Boeing 737s in its fleet. Frontier is an all-Airbus airline with A320-series aircraft.

Southwest said it plans to phase out those Airbuses and replace them with Boeings if it succeeds in its takeover bid.

Consider it one of the few benefits of the recession.

Average domestic air fares from Sea-Tac Airport fell by more than 10 percent in the first quarter of this year.

The federal government's Bureau of Transportation Statistics released those figures this week, ranking Sea-tac 47th among the nation's top 100 airports in average fares in the first quarter of the year.

Passengers originating at Sea-Tac paid an average of $309.33 for their tickets during January, February and March this year, the BTS figures show.

That's down from $345.36 for the first quarter of 2008.

That figure put Sea-Tac below the national average air fare of $314.94.

Smaller airports with limited service and big hub airports dominated by a single carrier were at the top of BTS' list for average air fares.

Huntsville, Ala., was in first place with an average fare of $505.35. Second was Cincinnati, Ohio, a Delta Air Lines hub, with $445.82. Third was Grand Rapids, Mich. with fares averaging $417.78. In fourth and fifth were Savannah, Ga., and Des Moines, Iowa.

Lowest fares were at airports dominated by Southwest Airlines or other low fare carriers.

At the bottom of the list was Long Beach, Calif. with average fares of $207.01. Long Beach is dominated by low-fare carrier JetBlue Airways.

Next lowest was Oakland, Calif., an airport with a big Southwest presence, followed by Burbank, Calif., again an airport where Southwest is the largest carrier. In 97th place was Dallas Love Field, Southwest's home airfield and Las Vegas, a leisure market with a large Southwest dominance.