A Boeing 787 Dreamliner sits on the runway at Boeing Field in Seattle, Washington.
Robert Sorbo | Reuters
Boeing hopes delayed suppliers will catch up on parts that have slowed 787 production to below five a month, as the US planemaker works to restore output on two key commercial programs by year-end.
Boeing and European rival Airbus are struggling to meet strong airline demand for jets as they grapple with problems in their supply chains and factories.
Such concerns will cast a shadow over the Farnborough Airshow, which runs from July 22 to 26, despite strong demand for travel.
This early year, Boeing cuts 787 production so that “suppliers can catch up with us,” a company executive told reporters during a visit to the sprawling 777 wide-body aircraft factory in Everett, Washington state in June.
“Our plan is to return to five flights a month by the end of the year when we see that parts supply has reached the level needed,” said Scott Stocker, vice president and general manager of the 787 program in South Carolina.
Boeing executives told reporters the company is taking similar steps to enhance employee feedback and production quality on wide-body planes that fly long international routes like the single-aisle 737 MAX.
The planemaker is under intense legal and regulatory scrutiny following the mid-air explosion of a door latch on a nearly new 737 MAX 9 in January due to a bolt shortage. Boeing said it would restore 737 production to around 38 by the end of the year after a sharp drop in production of its best-selling jetliner.
I called 20 hotels like that and, ‘No, we’re booked, sorry.’
While the aircraft maker scored a boost for its wide-body aircraft by Begin certification flight testing This month, with the long-delayed 777-9, delays in delivering seats and heat exchangers have created unique challenges for the 787.
Stocker said a separate issue with screws on the Dreamliner revealed by Reuters in June has no impact on current pricing.
Stocker also said Boeing had conducted a comprehensive analysis of the fleet, after the planemaker was alerted by an employee earlier this year that some uncompleted testing had been completed. The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has open an investigation.
“We felt we had to go back and address some of the work that wasn’t done, you know, properly,” he said. “The investigation is still ongoing but we’ve made really good progress.”
Boeing has halted deliveries of its 787 wide-body aircraft for more than a year until August 2022 while the FAA investigates quality issues and manufacturing defects.
However, the aircraft maker is eyeing more Dreamliner production after targeting production of 10 Dreamliners per month in 2025-2026 at its 2022 investment date.
Stocker did not specify a long-term target: “We are planning to raise interest rates over the next few years,”
