Boeing delays 787 Dreamliner shipments for a defect in the rear part of the planes

FILE – The Boeing 787 Dreamliner taxis after landing at Le Bourget airport, east of Paris, during its first presentation at the 49th Paris Air Show at the airport, June 21, 2011. Boeing said Tuesday, June 6, 2023, that deliveries of its 787 Dreamliner were again halted by yet another manufacturing issue, the latest in a series of setbacks affecting the twin-aisle jet. (AP Photo/Francois Mori, File) (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

Boeing said on Tuesday that deliveries of its 787 Dreamliner were again delayed by another manufacturing issue, the latest in a series of setbacks affecting the twin-aisle jet.

The company said it was inspecting the fittings on a part of the tail called the horizontal stabilizer “for an out-of-spec condition.” Inspections and repairs will affect short-term deliveries but will not change the company’s full-year delivery forecast. Boeing did not specify how many planes are affected by the new defect.

Boeing said the flaw in the tail is not a safety concern and planes already in airline fleets can continue to fly. The company said it notified the Federal Aviation Administration and the airlines.

Both the 787 and 737 Max have been plagued by production flaws that have sporadically delayed deliveries and left airlines without the planes they expected to have for the peak summer season.

In April, Boeing discovered a problem with fittings on Max jets where the fuselage met the vertical tail section.

A month prior, deliveries of the 787 had been halted while federal regulators reviewed documentation of work performed on the new planes. 787 shipments have been halted several times over the past three years due to production issues.

The delays hurt Boeing because buyers typically pay a large portion of the purchase price on delivery.

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