A
Boeing
777-9
jetliner
aircraft
is
pictured
on
the
tarmac
during
the
2023
Dubai
Airshow
at
Dubai
World
Central
–
Al-Maktoum
International
Airport
in
Dubai
on
Nov.
13,
2023.
Giuseppe
Cacace
|
AFP
|
Getty
Images
Boeing Co said on
Sunday it
will
have
to do
more
work on
about
50
undelivered 737 Max airplanes,
potentially
delaying
near-term deliveries, after its
supplier
Spirit
AeroSystems discovered
two
mis-drilled
holes
on some fuselages.
Boeing confirmed
the
findings
in
response
to
a Reuters query after industry
sources
said
a spacing problem
had
been
discovered
in
holes
drilled
on
a
window
frame,
but
the
jetmaker
said
safety
was
unaffected
and
existing 737s
could
keep
flying.
“This
past
Thursday,
a
supplier
notified
us
of
a
non-conformance
in some 737 fuselages.
I
want
to
thank
an
employee
at
the
supplier
who
flagged
to
his
manager
that
two
holes
may
not
have
been
drilled
exactly
to
our
requirements,” Boeing Commercial
Airplanes
CEO
Stan
Deal
said
in
a
letter
to
staff.
“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,”
Deal
said.
The
checks
focus
on
potentially
incorrect
positioning
of
two
holes
on
a
window
frame
assembly
supplied
by
Spirit,
a
condition
known
as
“short
edge
margin,”
the
sources
said.
As
of
Friday,
the
“non-conformance”
or quality defect had
been
found
in
22
fuselages
–
nearly
half
of
the
47
inspected
up
that
point
in
production
systems
spread
between Boeing and
Spirit
–
and
may
exist
in some 737s
in
service,
they
added.
The
figures
Deal
supplied
to
employees
on
Sunday
suggest
that
the
inspections
proceeded
rapidly
and
that
the
problem
affects
a
minority
of
the
hundreds
of
fuselages
in
the
pipeline.
“As
part
of
our
360-degree quality management
program,
a
member
of
our
team
identified
an
issue
that
does
not
conform
to
engineering
standards,”
a
Spirit
AeroSystems
spokesperson
said.
The
findings
came
to
light
in
a
routine
notification
known
as
a
Notice
of
Escapement,
in
which
suppliers
notify Boeing of
any
known
or
suspected quality slip,
the
sources
said.
Such quality reports
are
common
in
aerospace
but
the
discovery
comes
as Boeing and
its
best-selling
jet
face
intense
scrutiny after the
mid-air
blowout
of
a
door
plug
on
an
Alaska
Airlines
jet
on
Jan
5.
