The first commercial flight of the Qantas Boeing 787 Dreamliner on December 15, 2017 in Melbourne, Australia.
James D. Morgan | Getty Images
The Federal Aviation Administration said Wednesday it would inspect four of Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner aircraft itself, rather than delegate that work to Boeing after production problems arose last year.
“The FAA is taking a number of corrective actions to address the production issues of the Boeing 787,” the agency said in a statement. “One of the actions is to retain the authority to issue certificates of airworthiness for four 787 aircraft. The FAA may retain the authority to issue certificates of airworthiness for 787 additional aircraft if we see the need.”
The enhanced review of the Dreamliner comes four months after the FAA lifted a 20-month flight ban for the best-selling Boeing 737 Max, which the regulator set in March 2019 after two fatal crashes in five months. . The FAA has also retained the authority to sign the Max aircraft that Boeing has produced since the grounding.
Boeing revealed problems with several stitches in the aircraft in September.
The FAA told Boeing in January it would give the final signature on the planes, according to a letter seen by CNBC. It was previously reported by Bloomberg News. Boeing said it expects to resume air deliveries later this month.
“We are encouraged by the progress our team is making in terms of returning to delivery activities for the 787 program, “Boeing said.” We have engaged the FAA throughout this effort and will implement their direction to approve the certification of the airworthiness of the original aircraft as they did. in the past.”
While the latest Dreamliner checks came in response to production issues, the FAA said it has conducted final airworthiness checks on some 787s in recent years “so that FAA inspectors can meet their inspection currency requirements.” .