The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said on February 15 that it would be performing final inspections and issuing approval for Boeing’s new 787 Dreamliner aircraft, no longer allowing the company to self-certify its planes.
The FAA has stated that Boeing will not resume conducting its own inspections of new aircraft until officials are confident that the company’s quality control and manufacturing processes consistently produce 787s that meet the FAA’s design standards.
In 2020, the Boeing 787, which is a larger plane than the 737 Max, experienced so many production flaws that Boeing briefly stopped delivering the craft to airports. In May 2021, deliveries were halted again and have not yet resumed. Currently, Boeing has more than 100 undelivered 787s in storage.
In the past, Boeing and other aviation companies were deputized by the FAA to act on its behalf in certifying the airworthiness of their aircraft. That practice was intensely criticized after two deadly crashes involving 737 Max jets. Further investigation revealed that FAA officials knew little about a key flight controls system that may have been related to the crashes.
The FAA has stated that once deliveries resume, federal safety regulators will perform the final inspections and retain the power to approve each new plane. The agency also stated that it wants to ensure Boeing has a robust plan for the rework process that it must perform on the large volume of new 787s the company currently has in storage.
“This will allow the agency to confirm the effectiveness of measures Boeing has undertaken to improve the 787-manufacturing process,” said the FAA in a statement.
Boeing has taken a hit financially since the deliveries halted. The company lost $3.5 billion to delivery delays and customer concessions and another $1 billion to abnormal production costs for the new jets due to flaws, repairs, and inspections.
“We respect the FAA’s role as our regulator and we work transparently through their detailed and rigorous processes,” said Boeing in a statement. “Safety is the top priority for our industry. We will continue to engage with the FAA to ensure we meet their expectations and all applicable requirements.”
Earlier this month, lawmakers criticized the FAA’s relationship with Boeing and asked the United States Department of Transportation to conduct a review of the FAA’s actions.
“We resolved many of the non-conformances and were finalizing our work on the remaining items,” added Boeing. “We also continue to focus on fulfilling requirements and expectations of the FAA and will follow their lead on the timing of resuming deliveries.”
