The United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has indicated that it is likely to allow Boeing (BOE, Washington National) to resume B787s deliveries this week after they were paused in late February over documentation issues.
Boeing pre-emptively halted deliveries of the aircraft type after it discovered what it called a "an analysis error by our supplier related to the 787 forward pressure bulkhead." The manufacturer informed the FAA, which later said deliveries would not resume until it was satisfied the problem had been addressed.
The Spirit AeroSystems-built forward pressure bulkhead on the B787 has previously caused problems for Boeing. Deliveries were stopped in May 2021 after the FAA discovered gaps around the bulkhead after it had been installed. The component was replaced in August 2022, which allowed deliveries to recommence. Spirit AeroSystems has been delivering a fully-integrated fuselage B787 structure to Boeing since 2007.
“We have completed the necessary analysis that confirms the airplane continues to meet all relevant requirements and does not require production or fleet action," a Boeing spokesperson told ch-aviation. "The FAA will determine when 787 ticketing and deliveries resume, and we are working with our customers on delivery timing."
The authority told ch-aviation that Boeing had addressed its concerns, and "the FAA may resume issuing airworthiness certificates this week. The agency must still sign off on every plane before Boeing can deliver it."
Neither entity would nominate a specific date and Boeing declined to answer questions on which airline was first in line to take delivery. According to the latest Boeing unfulfilled orders data, 575 of the type remain on order but undelivered, but that dataset does not take into account the twenty B787-9s recently ordered by Air India (AI, Delhi International). The carrier with the most B787s on order is United Airlines (UA, Chicago O'Hare), which has 101 due and is reportedly set to obtain its next one later this month.
