While inspecting and repairing undelivered 787 Dreamliners for the flaws at fuselage joints that emerged last year, Boeing has discovered a new manufacturing quality problem with a key structural part in the nose of the aircraft. In yet another serious setback as Boeing struggles to recover from the pandemic's impact on production, its engineers have now found gaps around the forward pressure bulkhead.
This is a hefty, dome-shaped structural barrier forward of the pilot instrument panel that's crucial to maintaining air pressure within the cockpit and passenger cabin. The additional inspections and repairs now required will prolong the current 787 delivery halt and extend the duration of the large inventory build-up. In addition, it has forced Boeing to cut the already slow production rate further.
Boeing insists the gaps around the bulkhead are tiny -- measured in thousandths of an inch -- and the Federal Aviation Administration concurs with company engineers that it is "not a safety-of-flight issue."
However, the gaps are beyond the tolerances demanded in the design specification for the 787, and so the backlog of about 100 completed planes that are parked and undelivered must be inspected for the flaw and repaired if need be. Boeing and the FAA are still assessing whether similar inspections will be needed for the in-service fleet currently flying passengers around the globe.
The discovery has forced Boeing to take teams of mechanics off 787 production to add resources for the inspections and repairs on undelivered jets. Thwarting its efforts to generate cash flow with the 787, Boeing said it now cannot meet its target of delivering more than half of those parked planes in 2021.
A spokesperson said the decision to cut the production rate is only partly because of diversion of resources to deal with the new manufacturing problem. Another factor is the lack of interest from long-haul airlines in taking 787 deliveries because of the continued steep drop-off in international air travel.
This new manufacturing flaw complicates an already difficult recovery for the 787 program. From last fall, 787 deliveries were stopped until March, when Boeing developed its inspection and repair protocol and the FAA gave its initial approval to resume deliveries. But when the FAA demanded more data on Boeing's proposal to conduct further inspections by sampling, deliveries stopped again in May.
During that brief respite between March and May, and with the single plane Turkish took in June, Boeing has delivered just 14 Dreamliners in the nine months since October. Now the paralysis in deliveries is set to be prolonged further.
The only good news for Boeing recently has been that sales of the 737 Max have picked up. Data released recently shows Boeing won 219 orders in June: the 200 Maxes booked by United, plus 18 wide-body 767 freighters and one large 777 freighter, all for FedEx. However, 71 Maxes were cancelled as well as two 737 military derivative planes, so the net orders for June came to 146.
In addition, Boeing removed another 49 Maxes and seven 787s from its firm order backlog, which means those orders are now considered too dubious to count as firm because of customer financing or contract issues. Subtracting those, June produced a net increase in firm orders of 90 airplanes.
Free of Boeing's manufacturing setbacks, rival plane manufacturer Airbus is pumping out airplanes much faster. In the first half of 2021, the European aerospace giant delivered almost twice as many airplanes as Boeing. In June, Airbus delivered 77 aircraft to customers, raising the total deliveries so far this year to 297.
Profit and market share have driven sales of Boeing and Airbus. The safety issue was overlooked until two Maxes literally fell out of the sky. Boeing agreed to pay a A$3.2 billion fine over fraud charges related to two devastating jumbo jet crashes. More than half the payment will go to compensate airlines which have bought the 737 MAX. Another A$643 million (US$500 million) will go to the heirs, relatives and legal beneficiaries of the 346 passengers who died in the Lion Air Flight 610 and Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 crashes.
Boeing needs to rectify its processes, objectives and focus on reliability. That is more important than revenues and profits in the longer term.
Source: https://ycnews.com
Source: https://ycnews.com
References:
Boeing checks find new 787 flaw, Tribute News Service, July 14, 2021
(https://www.arkansasonline.com)
Boeing hit with $3.2 billion fine after deceiving authorities about fatal flaw,
(https://www.9news.com.au)
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