The latest setback for the widebody plane, Boeing warned on Tuesday that it would have to slow down the delivery of the 787 Dreamliner after finding a new production defect that will cause it to inspect all 90 of the aircraft in its stock.

Although the recently discovered production snag does not endanger flight safety, it comes after a month-long 787 delivery halt that was overcome in March and causes Boeing to face yet another delay as it attempts to repair the aircraft before they can be delivered to customers.

According to the business, the issue is with a fitting for the horizontal stabiliser of the 787 that was put in by a Boeing production facility in Salt Lake City, Utah.

A plane can maintain longitudinal balance while flying thanks to the horizontal stabiliser, which is situated near the base of the aircraft’s tail.

Before any of the 90 Dreamliners in its inventory can be delivered, Boeing will need to inspect them all. The company estimates that this will take two weeks.

According to the manufacturer, it was discovered last week that the fitting had shimming, a material used to fill spaces between an aircraft’s surfaces, which was missized and did not adhere to standards. According to the business, it stopped approving 787s suspected of having the problem for delivery on Friday.

Boeing claimed that the problem does not currently affect in-service 787s, but the company was unable to specify how long the problem has persisted or whether Dreamliners currently in use by airlines will require a remedy.

Boeing claimed that the problem has not led to a halt in 787 manufacturing, which it expanded from three to four aircraft per month as of last week.

“There should be minimal production disruption given conforming shims require only minor changes,” Jefferies analyst Sheila Kahyaoglu said in a note to clients.

The price of Boeing stock dropped 2.4% after the flaw was revealed, and it decreased by 0.7% on Tuesday.

In a statement, the United States Federal Aviation Administration said that it had verified Boeing’s conclusion that there was no urgent safety concern for 787s already in use.

But the organisation declared that unless the issue was resolved to its satisfaction, it would not issue any new airworthiness certificates for the 787.

Usually, the manufacturer receives such authority from the FAA. However, in some cases, like as the 737 MAX and 787, it has continued to be in charge of authorising every new aircraft.

Although it added that it thought it could still deliver 70 to 80 Dreamliners this year, Boeing said it had informed customers that rework will influence the scheduling of near-term 787 deliveries.

The most recent issue with the 787 is similar to production concerns that were revealed in 2020 and 2021, such as incorrectly fitted shimming that resulted in paper-thin gaps between surfaces on the fuselage of the Dreamliner.

Multiple times during that time, Boeing halted 787 deliveries until starting them again in August after agreeing to an FAA-approved modification plan for Dreamliners already in the company’s inventory.

In February, the business was forced to halt yet another 787 delivery after Boeing discovered a data analysis error affecting the forward pressure bulkhead that had nothing to do with the shimming issue. The FAA announced in March that it would permit Boeing to resume 787 deliveries because the American aircraft manufacturer had rectified issues.

The most popular MAX 8 type was among the family of cash-generating narrowbody jets that saw a delay in deliveries due to a 737 bracket installation problem that was discovered in April.

In April, Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun referred to the issue as a “gnarly defect” that was practically impossible for employees to detect visually. The business said last month that it has started delivering modified 737s.

(Adapted from Nasdaq.com)