Boeing Stock Drops After Dreamliner Shows Problems

Boeing, one of the largest aircraft manufacturers in the world, announced today that it would be cutting production of the 787 Dreamliner. The aircraft's production and deliveries will pause until further notice, and those delivered might have to be evaluated and inspected. The Federal Aviation Agency (FAA) has stated that the issue does not mean an "immediate threat to flight safety," but it is still analyzing how Boeing will inspect the airplanes. 

Boeing is still recovering from the crisis caused by the two 737 Max crashes and the COVID-19 pandemic. In its official press release, Boeing stated that "We continue the work to deliver on our commitments to our commercial, defense, space and services customers while positioning our business for a stable and strong recovery from the pandemic. In the second quarter, we made progress in safely returning the 737 Max to service in more international markets and increasing the pace of 737 deliveries."

The aerospace giant also mentioned that it is still discussing with the FAA the verification methodology for 787 fuselages and conducting associated inspections and rework. Meanwhile, further deliveries will be delayed, depriving Boeing of cash since most of an aircraft's price is paid when it is handed to the customer.

The FAA gave a statement to Reuters explaining that "although the issue poses no immediate threat to flight safety, Boeing has committed to fixing these airplanes before resuming deliveries... After a review of data, it will determine whether similar modifications should be made on 787s already in commercial service."

Boeing, the FAA and the Dreamliner

Boeing has been having issues with the 787 for some time now. Since September, the FAA had been investigating some flaws in the 787 Dreamliners. At the time, Boeing explained that the airplanes had shims that were not the proper size and some aircraft had areas that did not meet skin-flatness specifications, as reported by Reuters. Boeing had already begun painstaking repairs and forensic inspections to fix structural integrity flaws in the 787s.

In June 2021, Boeing received orders for 146 planes which represent its largest order since March 2019. But biven the circumstances, Boeing has announced that it will deliver less than half of the pending 100 or so 787 Dreamliners in its inventory this year. After this announcement went public, Boeing shares dropped by 3.3 percent in the afternoon. As a last remark, the FAA commented that "this is not an issue regarding the manufacturing, but a question of how the piece of the plane ages."