NEW YORK and WASHINGTON, D.C.—Boeing is working on “a few issues” with remaining 737-7 certification data submittals before handing them over to the FAA and is confident that 767 deliveries will resume “shortly,” Boeing Commercial Airplanes president Stan Deal said.
“It’s just completing the final submittals,” Deal said when asked to identify the single biggest issue on 737-7 certification. “We’ve got less than a handful left to go into the FAA. We’re working through a few issues around those submittals. I want them to be perfect,” he added, speaking to reporters following a Wings Club event in New York.
Deal did not provide details on the submittals, but sources with knowledge of the situation tell Aviation Week that system safety assessments (SSAs) related to pilot assumptions continue to be the pacing item. The 737-7 program has about 30 SSAs. A September 2022 letter from the FAA to Boeing said that just three had been accepted, and 10 were sent back to Boeing for more work.
Meanwhile, Deal said 767 deliveries will resume soon, starting with commercial freighters and then moving to KC-46 tankers.
Deliveries Paused
“It’s taken quite a bit of time to do” required re-work, he said. “You’ll see deliveries resume shortly. I’m not going to put a date on it.”
A sealant adherence issue forced Boeing to pause 767 deliveries in December 2022. Boeing delivered 33 767s in 2022 and is at a production rate of 3 per month.
Planned monthly rate increases this year for both the 787 and 737 remain on track, he said.
The 737’s notional monthly output will climb above the current rate of 31 “very soon,” Deal said.
The 787’s step-up from three per month may take longer.
“We plan to do rate increases on the 787, but we want stability first,” he said. “We’ve got a couple suppliers we’re working with, making sure our factory is stable. You’ll see that turn up this year.”
—With Andrea Hollowell in New York
Related Content
