Boeing Suspends Delivery of 787 Dreamliners Again Due to Fuselage Element Inspection

Boeing has once again suspended delivery of its long-haul 787 aircraft, already halted for several months in 2021 and 2022 due to poor workmanship, to take a closer look at the fuselage element, the US Aviation Regulatory Agency (FAA) said Thursday. “Deliveries will not resume until the FAA is satisfied that the issue has been resolved,” the agency said in a message sent to AFP, emphasizing that it is working with the US aircraft manufacturer “to determine the actions that may be required for newly delivered aircraft. airplane”.

The group’s stake fell 3% in electronic trading following the announcement. Boeing did not immediately respond to AFP’s request. The 787 Dreamliner has faced several pitfalls in recent years. A manufacturing defect was discovered at the end of summer 2020. After a thorough inspection of the device, other problems appeared. Boeing had to suspend deliveries first from November 2020 to March 2021, then from May 2021 to August 2022 and reduce production rates.

Aircraft manufacturer in turmoil

But after resuming deliveries last summer, Boeing was able to deliver 31 aircraft in 2022, including 22 in the fourth quarter. And in December, United Airlines announced plans to order 100,787 aircraft, with an option for 100 more.

However, in January, the manufacturer delivered only three. After two fatal crashes of the 737 MAX and a twenty-month flight ban, a massive slowdown in air traffic due to the pandemic and production problems with the 787, Boeing is looking to deliver the aircraft for financial recovery.

Since its introduction to the market at the beginning of the decade, this device has accumulated a number of failures. It arrived several years late and a string of defects brought the entire fleet to a halt in 2013. Among the difficulties were problems with the brakes, a cracked windshield, a fire due to the battery. These new problems with the Dreamliner come in an already particularly difficult context for Boeing.