Boeing is finally ready to restart 787 handovers to airlines that have been stalled since late in 2020 with customers being advised places in the delivery queue according to Bloomberg.
The aerospace giant is working on the final paperwork with the FAA and according to Stan Deal, President of Boeing Commercial Airplanes the company is almost there.
“There’s been steady progress,” Deal told Bloomberg Thursday on the sidelines of a UK Aviation Club event in London. “There’s a lot of paperwork you have to turn in so we’ve been focused on that and on the restoration of the airplane.”
Boeing and the FAA halted deliveries of the 787 after the company reported tiny but unacceptable flaws in the production process.
The FAA said in a statement that “its inspectors will continue to perform final inspections on newly produced 787s until the agency “is confident that:
-Boeing’s quality control and manufacturing processes consistently produce 787s that meet FAA design standards
-Boeing has a robust plan for the re-work that it must perform on a large volume of new 787s in storage
-Boeing’s delivery processes are stable”
As of mid-May, there were 120 undelivered 787s in storage or undergoing inspections and repairs for gaps smaller than the width of a human hair in some instances.
Boeing has sold 1488 787s and has delivered 1006 leaving 482 to be delivered. Sales are expected to pick up once deliveries resume and Boeing is now looking at a 787 Freighter model.
Prior to COVID, Boeing was selling about 150 787s a year but in 2020 it sold 53 and since the grounding in late 2020 just 14.
(AirlineRatings)
