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Boeing holding up North Charleston-built Dreamliner deliveries due to flaw

Contributing Writer //June 7, 2023//

Boeing holding up North Charleston-built Dreamliner deliveries due to flaw

Contributing Writer //June 7, 2023//

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Boeing is holding up deliveries of its 787 Dreamliner because of yet another manufacturing problem. It’s the latest in a string of setbacks affecting the 787 and another Boeing plane, the 737 Max.

Boeing said Tuesday that it is inspecting fittings on part of the tail of 787s called the horizontal stabilizer for “a nonconforming condition.” The company says the inspections and repair work will affect near-term deliveries but won't change the company's forecast of deliveries for the full year. Boeing says the flaw is not a safety issue, and planes already in airline fleets can keep flying.

Boeing said Tuesday that deliveries of its 787 Dreamliner have been delayed again by another manufacturing issue, the latest in a string of setbacks affecting the two-aisle jet.

The company said it is inspecting fittings on part of the tail called the horizontal stabilizer "for a nonconforming condition." The inspections and repairs will affect near-term deliveries but won't alter the company's forecast of deliveries for the full year. Boeing did not say how many planes are affected by the new defect.

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Boeing said the flaw in the tail is not a safety issue and planes already in airline fleets can keep flying. The company said it notified the Federal Aviation Administration and airlines.

The 787 and the 737 Max have both been plagued by production defects that have sporadically held up deliveries and left airlines without planes that they expected to have for the peak summer season.

In April, Boeing found a problem with fittings on Max jets were the fuselage meets the vertical section of the tail.

A month before that, deliveries of the 787 were stopped while federal regulators looked over documentation of work that was done on new planes. Shipments of 787s have been stopped several times in the past three years because of production issues.

The delays hurt Boeing because buyers usually pay a large part of the purchase price on delivery.

— The Associated Press

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