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Reuters, WASHINGTON/SEATTLE, July 12 – The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced late Monday that some Boeing (BA.N) 787 Dreamliners that have yet to be delivered have a new manufacturing quality concern that the manufacturer will address before the planes are delivered. The problem is “near the nose on certain 787 Dreamliners in the company’s inventory of undelivered airplanes,” according to the FAA. “This issue was detected as part of the FAA’s ongoing system-wide review of Boeing’s 787 shimming processes.” “The FAA will decide whether comparable improvements should be made on 787s already in commercial operation based on data,” the FAA said. Boeing did not respond to a request for comment right away. This is the latest issue with Boeing’s struggling 787 Dreamliner production. The FAA announced in late May that Boeing has temporarily paused 787 deliveries while it awaited further data to evaluate if the planemaker’s proposed inspection technique fits federal criteria. “Boeing must still demonstrate that their proposed inspection process complies with FAA safety rules. Before deciding if Boeing’s approach complies with safety rules, the FAA is awaiting more information from the firm “On May 28, the FAA issued a statement. Two airworthiness directives were issued by the FAA in May to address production issues with in-service airplanes. The 737 MAX and 787 planes have been plagued by electrical and other troubles since late last year, and delivery of the 787s were only resumed in March after a five-month delay. In May, two major US congressmen announced that they wanted data from Boeing and the FAA regarding production difficulties with the 737 MAX and 787 Dreamliner. The FAA announced in September that it was looking into manufacturing problems on some 787 Dreamliners. Boeing reported in August that eight of its 787 Dreamliners were taken out of service due to two separate production concerns. David Shepardson and Eric M. Johnson contributed reporting, and Muralikumar Anantharaman and Shri Navaratnam edited the piece. The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles are our standards./nRead More

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