Boeing will rework about 50 undelivered aircraft after engineering issues came to light with the new planes, the company said on Feb. 4 amid heightened scrutiny following an accident last month.
In a message to employees, the Arlington, Virginia-based planemaker stated that CEO Stan Deal would spend “several days” at its Renton, Washington, factory inspecting some undelivered planes for potential quality issues. A supplier recently notified Boeing of engineering issues in the fuselages of certain 737 MAX aircraft.
An employee at the supplier had alerted his manager that two holes in the planes might not have been drilled exactly according to Boeing’s requirements.
“While this potential condition is not an immediate flight safety issue and all 737s can continue operating safely, we currently believe we will have to perform rework on about 50 undelivered airplanes,” the message stated.
“While this issue could delay some near-term 737 deliveries, this is the only course of action given our commitment to deliver perfect airplanes every time. The days we are setting aside in the 737 program will allow time for our teams to complete the inspections and, if needed, perform the necessary rework.”
A spokesperson for Spirit AeroSystems, the sole 737 fuselage supplier for Boeing, confirmed to Reuters that the issue was discovered by a member of their team.
“We are in close communication with Boeing on this matter,” he said.
A door plug on the aircraft’s fuselage tore off while the plane was flying at 16,000 feet, causing rapid cabin depressurization. As a result, some passengers were injured.
Effects on Airlines
In late January, the FAA allowed the grounded Boeing planes to come back into service provided they undergo “a thorough inspection and maintenance process.”During a conference call with analysts, Chief Financial Officer Shane Tackett said that Alaska expects to be made “whole (by Boeing) for the profit impact of the grounding,” according to The Seattle Times.
“It’s not acceptable what happened,“ CEO Ben Minicucci said. ”We’re gonna hold them accountable. And we’re going to raise the bar on quality on Boeing ... We’re gonna hold Boeing’s feet to the fire to make sure that we get good airplanes out of that factory.”
“I think the Max 9 grounding is probably the straw that broke the camel’s back for us. We’re going to at least build a plan that doesn’t have the Max 10 in it.”
Southwest Airlines has reduced its expected Boeing aircraft deliveries for this year, citing issues with the certification of the 737 Max 7 model.
The company’s quality and audit team is assessing Boeing’s production quality and control systems, including production vendor oversight, it said on Jan. 13.
“The fact that we’re having to do that is testament to what has happened,“ he said. ”This would not have been sanctioned in the old days. You know, we trusted these people implicitly to get it done.”