The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has approved Boeing’s inspection and modification plan to resume deliveries of its 787 according to the WSJ.
The approval of the Boeing plan should allow the company to resume deliveries in August after it halted them in May 2021.
The first 787 delivery is expected to occur within days suggests the WSJ and there are over 120 787s to be delivered over the next six months worth $US25 billion.
Boeing halted delivery of its 787s in 2020 after its engineers discovered defects in production and it self-reported these to the FAA.
Since then Boeing has been working to rectify the production issues and then work on an inspection process that the FAA would tick off on.
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At the same time, the production rate dropped from 14 aircraft a month to just 2 causing major issues for suppliers of the 787.
The defects related to tiny, gaps where fuselage sections are joined and while not a safety risk could cause premature fatigue.
At the recent Farnborough Air Show, Boeing Commercial Airplanes president Stan Deal told AirlineRatings.com that the company is expecting orders to start flowing again soon.
“When you’re not producing [787s], it’s hard to get orders. Although we got a few last year. As we start deliveries, I think you’ll see the orders flow.
“The 787 is the backbone of many fleets around the globe. It was the most utilized wide-body aircraft during the COVID period, and largely, that’s because of the capability of what the airplane represented.
“Unprecedented cargo carrying capability in the belly, unprecedented fuel burn. Those two factors helped airlines during the pandemic and many of them use those airplanes to carry freight.”
