Aerospace giant Boeing may resume deliveries of its 787 Dreamliner plane “in the coming days” after the company made changes to its manufacturing process, US aviation security officials announced on Monday.
Deliveries of the best-selling widebody aircraft have halted since spring 2021, but “Boeing has made the necessary changes to ensure the 787 Dreamliner meets all certification standards,” the Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement.
Acting FAA Administrator Billy Nolen met with safety inspectors in South Carolina last week to confirm they were satisfied with improvements the company was making to ensure they were meeting standards and to identify potential risks , after defects were discovered in the aircraft.
“The FAA will inspect each aircraft before issuing a certificate of airworthiness and clearing it for delivery,” the statement said. “We expect deliveries to resume in the coming days.”
The 787’s troubles date back to late summer 2020, when the company uncovered manufacturing defects on some jets. Boeing then identified other problems, including with the horizontal stabilizer.
The difficulties limited deliveries between November 2020 and March 2021. Boeing later halted deliveries in spring 2021 after more problems surfaced.
A company spokesman told AFP that Boeing “will continue to work transparently with the FAA and our customers to resume 787 deliveries,” but did not confirm that the company had received final FAA approval.
During a July 27 earnings conference call, Chief Executive Dave Calhoun described the company as “close to” receiving approval, but declined to give a specific target date.
At the end of June, Boeing had 120 Dreamliner aircraft in stock and was producing the jet “at very low prices,” the company said in a filing.
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