Again …

Commercial aircraft titan Boeing has temporarily halted deliveries of its 787 Dreamliner jets after notifying the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) that it is conducting "additional analysis on a fuselage component.”

Boeing hasn’t delivered a 787 since 26 January and shan’t be permitted to resume deliveries of the wide-body jet until it can demonstrate to the FAA’s satisfaction that what the company referred to as “an analysis error by our supplier” has been resolved.

In a statement, Boeing set forth: “In reviewing certification records, Boeing discovered an analysis error by our supplier related to the 787 forward pressure bulkhead. We notified the FAA and have paused 787 deliveries while we complete the required analysis and documentation.”

Notwithstanding the halt in 787 deliveries, Dreamliner production at Boeing’s Everett, Washington and North Charleston, South Carolina facilities will continue. What’s more, Boeing contends the bulkhead issue will necessitate no additional work on extant 787s.

“There is no immediate safety of flight concern for the in-service fleet,” Boeing asserted. “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.”

Pressure bulkheads define the forward and aft limits of a pressurized aircraft’s pressure vessel, and—in point of fact—are far more critical to safety of flight than a full complement of operating engines.

News of renewed woes with its 787 program sent Boeing stock falling three-percent in off-hours trading.

In May 2021, Boeing halted 787 deliveries for the second time in less than a year after the FAA identified shortfalls in the plane-maker’s method of evaluating the aircraft in a quality-control context. The FAA disclosed that the issues it observed derived of incorrect spacing of 787 fuselage and empennage components, which Boeing acknowledged as problematic in 2020, thereby occasioning a five-month delivery freeze.

In December 2022, United Airlines announced the largest order of wide-body airplanes by a U.S. airline in commercial aviation history. The Chicago-based carrier purchased one-hundred 787 Dreamliner jets, with options to order one-hundred more. The sale instantiated a critical vote of confidence in Boeing, which had lost billions in the wakes of widely publicized setbacks to its 737 MAX and 787 programs.

United’s record-breaking sale was upstaged in February 2023 by an announcement from Indian national airline Air India that a deal had been struck by which the New Delhi-based air-carrier would advance the revitalization of its fleet by virtue of an initial purchase of two-hundred narrow and wide-body Boeing jets. The agreement comprised 190 737-MAX, twenty 787-Dreamliner, and ten 777X aircraft, and included options for an additional fifty 737-MAX single-aisle, and twenty 787-9 long-range airliners.

Upon its finalization, the Air India deal will stand as Boeing’s largest one-time South Asian order to date, and mark an historic milestone in the American aerospace giant’s nearly ninety-year partnership with the Indian air-carrier.

FMI: www.boeing.com