In a move that will let Boeing and a long list of airlines breathe a bit easier, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration said Monday that it’s ready to approve resumed deliveries of Boeing’s 787 planes to anxiously waiting carriers.
The deliveries had been suspended for nearly two years over quality issues in new planes coming off the assembly line in Charleston, SC, where all 787s are assembled, although in-service planes were not affected.
FAA now says “Boeing has made the necessary changes to ensure that the 787 Dreamliner meets all certification standards. The FAA will inspect each aircraft before an airworthiness certificate is issued and cleared for delivery. We expect deliveries to resume in the coming days.”
In a major change, though, final inspection of each plane will now be carried out by federal inspectors, a job formerly done by Boeing’s in-house quality control. In the aftermath of the 737 Max issues, there has been a shift in a previously cozy relationship between the company and its regulators.
Since the last delivery in early 2021, the company has built up a backlog of 120 completed 787s, which can now be inspected and delivered. The disruption was costly not only for Boeing, but for carriers, especially American Airlines, that had counted on having them in service. American had to cancel a number of summer routes, and other airlines scrambled to pull older planes back into service.
