Boeing stops 787 delivery, needs FAA quality approval

Boeing shares slipped Friday after the giant jet maker suspended deliveries of its 787 Dreamliner once more, while it seeks FAA approval for its program to solve quality problems.

“We are working to provide the FAA with additional information concerning the analysis and documentation associated with the verification work on undelivered 787s,” Boeing said in a statement to The Wall Street Journal and Reuters.

“We continue to work closely with the FAA in a transparent and timely manner. There is no impact on the in-service fleet.”

The FAA said, “Boeing still needs to show that its proposed inspection method would meet FAA’s federal safety regulations.

“The FAA is waiting for additional data from Boeing before determining whether the company’s solution meets safety regulations.”

Boeing recently traded at $246.68, down 1.6%. The stock has climbed 16% over the past six months amid investor optimism that the economy will recover and consumers and business people again will travel extensively.

The 787 issues aren’t new and don’t affect flight safety, a knowledgeable source told The Journal.

Boeing already had a five-month suspension of deliveries of the plane until March. The suspension stemmed from problems with the 787’s shell.

Last month, Boeing said it had an inventory of about 100 Dreamliners and expected to deliver most of them by year-end, The Journal reports.

Boeing also has been plagued by problems with its 737 MAX jets, which were involved in two crashes that killed a total of 346 people in 2018 and 2019.

The stock rose Thursday after Airbus boosted its production targets, thanks to the recovery in global airline traffic.

Last Friday, Reuters reported that Boeing could take its MAX production output to 42 jets a month by the fall of next year.

By Dan Well  www.thestreet.com