The U.S. aviation authority rejected as «incomplete» the documentation submitted by Boeing to restart 787 Dreamliner deliveries, according to sources quoted by Reuters.
The FAA identified «omissions» in the documentation submitted by the manufacturer in late April and returned parts of it to Boeing for review, one of the sources confirmed.
According to the reports, it is too early to determine whether the FAA’s observations will result in a further delay to the resumption of deliveries, which are already a year behind schedule.
In the late April earnings presentation, Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun said the filing of the documentation was a «very important step» and that the company was preparing for the first delivery, although he did not give a precise date.
Boeing has, to date, more than 100 787s pending delivery for a market value of close to $12.5 billion. In February 2022, the FAA removed the manufacturer’s self-certification capability until the agency regains confidence that internal audit and construction processes meet regulatory standards.
The suspension of 787 deliveries has a direct impact on operators, which in a context of recovery of the long-haul market – the main segment affected by the pandemic – need to program equipment with better fuel consumption and cost per kilometer.
American Airlines, for example, had to suspend new destinations it had announced, and «temporarily» postponed the Seattle-London, Los Angeles-Sydney, and Dallas-Santiago de Chile routes. It also delayed the launch of Dallas-Tel Aviv operations and will reduce frequencies between Miami and São Paulo.
A new setback for Boeing in its relationship with the FAA puts the company in serious trouble as it seeks to overcome the MAX crisis while at the same time it needs to focus on achieving certification of the 737-10 before the end of the year, so that the process does not require mandatory changes to the design and crew training.
