MSGID: 2:292/854 162e4119
TZUTC: 0200                  
Boeing is again dealing with a quality problem in production. This time it
concerns the attachment of the tail of the 737 and MAX, which was not done 
correctly. Boeing has to check an as yet unknown number of aircraft, delaying
deliveries.
 
The Bloomberg news agency was the first to report the news on Thursday evening
after the American stock exchange closed, but it has been confirmed by Boeing.
The aircraft manufacturer was informed on Wednesday by its major supplier
Spirit Aerosystems that there is a problem. Spirit builds the complete
fuselages of the 737 and MAX.
 
On aircraft built since 2019, two of the eight tail fin attachment points do
not meet the correct specifications. The problem has been found on the
military 737 P-8A, the MAX 7, MAX 8 and the MAX 8200, but not on the MAX 9 and
the MAX 10s built so far. The reason why an error was made with only two
attachment points is being investigated. Spirit has been building the hulls
for years.
 
Boeing emphasizes that the problem has no consequences for the safety of the
aircraft, but according to standard procedure it immediately informed the
aviation authority FAA. The manufacturer must now check which devices are
affected by the deviation and expects to spend days or even weeks on this.
This concerns aircraft built from 2019 onwards.
 
After the flight ban in March 2019, Boeing had approximately 450 MAXs in
stock. At the end of December, 250 of these were still at the factory. Between
December 2020 and the end of March this year, 757 aircraft were delivered,
including newly built aircraft. Due to the extra inspections, fewer MAXs can
be delivered in the near future, says Boeing.
 
The problem comes a few days after reports that Boeing wants to increase
production of the MAX as early as this summer from about 31 per month now to
38 units, anticipating a minimum of 40 per month in 2024. In 2025, 52 aircraft
should be built. , just as much as before the corona crisis.
 
The discovery does not bode well for Spirit Aerosystems. Boeing Commercial
Airplanes CEO Stan Deal already mentioned a production problem in the fuselage
of the MAX last year, but it is unclear whether this is the same thing. In
2020, Spirit discovered anomalies in the nose section of the 787 it built,
which was later added to a problem with the forward pressure bulkhead. CEO Tom
Gentile said several times that Spirit had thoroughly reviewed the
manufacturing process to address the source of the errors, but now he has a
new problem.

--- DB4 - 20230201
 * Origin: AVIATION ECHO HQ (2:292/854)
SEEN-BY: 1/123 15/0 80/1 90/1 105/81 106/201 123/131 129/305 153/7715
SEEN-BY: 221/1 226/30 227/114 229/110 112 113 307 317 400 424 426
SEEN-BY: 229/428 470 664 700 280/464 282/1038 292/854 8125 301/1 317/3
SEEN-BY: 320/219 322/757 335/364 342/200 396/45 460/58 633/280 712/848
PATH: 292/854 229/426