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FAA Opens New Boeing Inquiry Over 787 Inspections

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Published: Tuesday, 14 May 2024 17:31

Federal air-safety regulators have opened a new investigation into Boeing after the jet maker recently disclosed that its employees may have skipped some inspections on 787 Dreamliners and falsified records, the latest quality issue at the manufacturer.  The Federal Aviation Administration said the plane maker notified the agency in April that it may not have completed required inspections on certain Dreamliners. 

The inspections were related to so-called bonding and grounding aimed at reducing electrical hazards near the aircraft’s fuel tanks, people familiar with the matter said. Commercial jetliners have various safeguards to protect fuel tanks from lightning strikes or other issues. The FAA said it was investigating “whether Boeing completed the inspections and whether company employees may have falsified aircraft records.” The agency has been scrutinizing Boeing’s production since the Jan. 5 midair blowout of a door plug on a 737 MAX jet flown by Alaska Airlines. 

It wasn’t immediately clear whether any 787 Dreamliners currently flying passengers around the world would need to be pulled out of service for inspections. The agency said Boeing was reinspecting all 787s in production and must formulate a plan to address the in-service Dreamliner fleet.

About 450 Dreamliners could be affected, according to people familiar with the investigation. Boeing said in a securities filing it had delivered 1,110 of the aircraft as of last year.

Boeing shares closed 0.8% lower Monday, falling after The Wall Street Journal reported on the new FAA investigation. Broader U.S. stock indexes settled around 1% higher.

Boeing’s 787 program chief, Scott Stocker, in an April 29 internal message, said the company found no immediate problem for Dreamliners currently flying.

“Fortunately, our engineering team has assessed that this misconduct did not create an immediate safety of flight issue,” Stocker said in the message, which a Boeing spokeswoman provided to the Journal. 

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Spirit Airlines to Defer Plane Deliveries and Furlough Pilots

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Published: Monday, 06 May 2024 18:24

The airline specified the agreement will defer the order scheduled to be delivered in the second quarter of 2025 through the end of 2026 to between 2030 and 2031. It said the agreement will improve its liquidity by about $340 million over the next two years.

Spirit noted the deferrals don’t include the direct-lease aircraft scheduled for delivery in that period, one each in the second and third quarter of 2025. It also said there are no changes to the aircraft on order with Airbus scheduled to be delivered in 2027 through 2029.

Spirit disclosed it intends to furlough about 260 pilots effective Sept. 1 as a result of grounded aircraft due to Pratt & Whitney GTF engine availability issues along with the 2025 and 2026 aircraft deferrals. As a result, it entered into a compensation agreement with Pratt & Whitney regarding the engines, which it estimates to improve its liquidity between $150 million and $200 million over the term of that agreement.

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FAA to Probe Loss of Engine Cover on Southwest Airlines Boeing Jet

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Published: Monday, 29 April 2024 18:23

The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating an incident in which an engine cover fell off a Southwest Airlines-flown Boeing 737-800 jet during takeoff from Denver on Sunday.

The FAA said Flight 3695, which was headed for Houston, returned safely to Denver International Airport around 8:15 a.m. after its crew reported that an engine cover fell off during takeoff and struck a wing flap.

The aircraft was towed to the gate upon landing, the FAA said.

Southwest said maintenance teams were reviewing the aircraft and apologized for the delay. The passengers were moved to another aircraft.

A Boeing spokesperson referred the request to Southwest for information about the jet and the airline’s fleet operations.

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Boeing Delivered 24 737 MAX Jets in March as Its Factories Slowed

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Published: Monday, 22 April 2024 18:23

Boeing delivered 24 737 MAX jets in March, capping the airplane maker’s slowest start to the year since the pandemic.

Boeing has been turning out fewer planes since the Jan. 5 Alaska Airlines door plug blowout. It is well below the goal it set before the accident of producing 48 737 MAXs a month.

The company has slowed its production lines to root out quality issues and amid heightened scrutiny by federal regulators.

Boeing has delivered 67 737s through the year’s first quarter, down from 112 for the same period a year ago. That’s the lowest number since the first three months of 2021, when it delivered 63.

Boeing has said it expects to pick up the pace of production later in the year.

The jet maker delivered 24 737 MAXs, up from 18 in February. It also delivered five 787 Dreamliners.

Boeing had a backlog of 5,668 planes, most of them 737s, at the end of March.

Boeing said it received orders for 113 planes and reported two order cancellations—both for 777 freighters.

Of the 737s delivered this year, 17 have gone to China. Boeing resumed deliveries to China in January after a four-year freeze following two MAX jet crashes in 2018 and 2019.

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