Boeing cuts 787 production as new problem discovered

Seattle - Boeing did not disclose a new production rate for the 787 programme, but said it would shift temporarily below the already-slow current rate of five jets per month.

Boeing Co said on Tuesday it will cut its 787 production rate as it works through a new structural defect in its troubled twin-aisle airliner program in another obstacle to recovery from the coronavirus pandemic’s impact.

The company now forecasts delivering fewer than half of the lingering 100 or so 787s in its inventory this year - instead of the “vast majority” it had expected - as it continues forensic inspections and costly repairs to address quality flaws in the aircraft.

Boeing did not disclose a new production rate for the 787 programme, but said it would shift temporarily below the already-slow current rate of five jets per month.

“To us this is more significant than the cut to the delivery forecast, as it ripples down through the supply chain,” Vertical Research Partners analyst Robert Stallard said in a client note.

“The supply chain cannot just be turned on and off like a switch,” Stallard added.

Boeing shares were down 3.7 per cent in midday trading.

For the year so far, the company has delivered 156 jets of all types, compared with 157 for all of 2020, Boeing said.

The latest production-related flaw, first reported by Reuters on Monday, involved unacceptable gaps around the forward pressure bulkhead, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration said.

The FAA said late on Monday that Boeing, which spotted the problem, would fix it before the planes are delivered.

The U.S. planemaker’s 737 MAX and 787 have been afflicted by electrical defects and other issues since late last year. Boeing halted deliveries of the jet in May, the second pause after it initially stopped handing over the jet in late 2020.

It also delivered 35 737s, including 33 737 MAXs and two P-8 maritime patrol aircraft to the US Navy. — Reuters