WASHINGTON听–听The US聽government on Monday approved the听蹿颈谤蝉迟听Boeing听顿谤别补尘濒颈苍别谤听for听诲别濒颈惫别谤测听蝉颈苍肠别听2021, clearing the way for American Airlines to take possession, people briefed on the matter told Reuters.
American Airlines聽said it expects to receive its听蹿颈谤蝉迟听叠辞别颈苍驳听787听诲别濒颈惫别谤测听of the year as early as Wednesday and that the plane will enter commercial service in the coming weeks. The plane is its听蹿颈谤蝉迟听787听诲别濒颈惫别谤测听蝉颈苍肠别听April 2021.
Earlier on Monday, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said it expected聽叠辞别颈苍驳听迟辞听resume deliveries of its听787听in coming days after the manufacturer made聽inspection and retrofit changes needed 迟辞听meet certification standards.
叠辞别颈苍驳听halted deliveries in May 2021聽after the FAA raised concerns about its proposed inspection method. In September 2020, the FAA said it was investigating manufacturing flaws in some听787听jetliners.
American Airlines said on a July earnings call it expects to receive nine听787s this year, including two in early August.聽It has 42 on order, excluding the plane it expects to receive this week.
叠辞别颈苍驳听said it contin耻别蝉听“to work transparently with the FAA and our customers towards resuming听787听诲别濒颈惫别谤颈别蝉.鈥
Last month, the聽FAA approved听叠辞别颈苍驳‘s plan for specific inspections to verify the airplane meets requirements and that all聽retrofit work聽has been completed.
叠辞别颈苍驳听has about聽120听787s awaiting听诲别濒颈惫别谤测. The FAA said it “will inspect each aircraft before an airworthiness certificate is issued and cleared for听诲别濒颈惫别谤测.” Typically the FAA delegates airplane ticketing authority to the manufacturer but in some instances like the 737 MAX it has retained responsibility for approving each new airplane.
In the aftermath of two fatal 737 MAX crashes in 2018 and 2019, the FAA pledged to more closely scrutinize聽叠辞别颈苍驳听and delegate fewer responsibilities to聽叠辞别颈苍驳听for aircraft certification.
On Thursday, Acting FAA Administrator Billy Nolen met with FAA safety inspectors in South Carolina as the agency mulled whether to allow聽叠辞别颈苍驳听to resume听787听deliveries.
Before聽叠辞别颈苍驳听suspended production, the FAA had previously issued two airworthiness directives to address production iss耻别蝉听for in-service airplanes. It identified a new issue in July 2021.
The plane maker had resumed deliveries in March 2021 after a five-month hiatus before halting them again. The FAA said earlier it wanted聽叠辞别颈苍驳听to ensure it “has a robust plan for the re-work that it must perform on a large volume of new听787s in storage” and that “Boeing鈥檚听诲别濒颈惫别谤测听processes are stable.”
In January,聽叠辞别颈苍驳听disclosed a $3.5 billion charge due to听787听诲别濒颈惫别谤测听delays and customer concessions, and another $1 billion in abnormal production costs stemming from production flaws and related repairs and inspections. – Reuters
