Boeing forced to halt 787 Dreamliner deliveries once again

By Chris Isidore, CNN

Boeing has been forced to halt deliveries of the 787 Dreamliner once again, just months after it resumed deliveries to customers following a year-long halt.

Boeing will have to conduct additional analysis of the fuselage in order to address new concerns of the Federal Aviation Administration, according to statements from the regulator and the company.

“In reviewing certification records, Boeing discovered an analysis error by our supplier related to the 787 forward pressure bulkhead,” said the company, referring to the portion of a plane at its nose that maintains the pressurized conditions in the cabin. “We notified the FAA and have paused 787 deliveries while we complete the required analysis and documentation.”

“Deliveries will not resume until the FAA is satisfied that the issue has been addressed,” said the agency. “The FAA is working with Boeing to determine any actions that might be required for recently delivered airplanes.”

While the 787 Dreamliners have not been grounded, the FAA had ordered a halt to deliveries of the widebody jet between May of 2021 and July of 2022 as it looked into questions about quality control during its assembly process.

Boeing continued to build the 787 even while it was prevented from making deliveries in late 2021 and much of 2022. It was able to deliver much of that backlog once it was given clearance to resume deliveries, as it delivered 34 Dreamliners between August of last year and January of this year.

Boeing plans to maintain assembly of the planes once again during this current delivery halt.

“There is no immediate safety of flight concern for the in-service fleet,” Boeing’s statement said. “Production continues and this is not expected to increase airplane rework. We are communicating with our customers and will continue to follow the lead of the FAA. While near-term deliveries will be impacted, at this time we do not anticipate a change to our production and delivery outlook for the year.”

But a halt of deliveries is another financial blow to the already struggling Boeing, which gets most of its money from its airline customers at the time that planes are delivered.

Boeing, which had its best selling plane, the 737 Max, grounded for 20 months from March of 2019 through November of 2021 following two fatal crashes, has reported deep financial losses totaling $26.3 billion over the course of the last four years.

Shares of Boeing, which had been up 9% so far this year through Thursday’s close and up more than 30% since it got clearance from the FAA to resume 787 deliveries in late July, lost 4% in morning trading Friday on the latest news.

— CNN’s Gregory Wallace contributed to this report

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