Boeing Slows 'Dreamliner' Production After New Manufacturing Issue (foxbusiness.com) 38
"A new production problem has surfaced with Boeing's 787 Dreamliner, further delaying deliveries of the popular wide-body jets..." writes the Wall Street Journal.
Long-time Slashdot reader phalse phace shares their report: Boeing halted handing over Dreamliners to airlines in late May, after federal air-safety regulators declined to approve the plane maker's proposed method of inspecting the jets for previously disclosed production defects. It was the second such pause in the past year...
The Federal Aviation Administration said the newly discovered quality issue posed no immediate safety threat. While the agency will determine whether to require modifications to 787s already in service, the FAA said: "Boeing has committed to fix these airplanes before resuming deliveries..."
The new problem surfaced on part of the aircraft known as the forward pressure bulkhead at the front of the plane, people familiar with the matter said. It involves the skin of the aircraft and is similar to a previously disclosed Dreamliner issue found elsewhere on the planes, one of these people said. It surfaced as part of the FAA's review of Boeing's quality checks on newly produced undelivered planes, this person said. The delivery pause has been another setback for the aerospace giant, which has been grappling with various problems in its commercial, defense and space programs in recent years. It is also choking off a key source of cash as Boeing tries to overcome twin crises that resulted from two fatal crashes of its 737 MAX aircraft in late 2018 and early 2019, and the Covid-19 pandemic's hit to aircraft demand.
The new problem hasn't raised any immediate safety concerns, but engineers at Boeing and the FAA are trying to understand the defect's potential to cause premature fatigue on a key part of the aircraft's structure, people familiar with the matter said.
Long-time Slashdot reader phalse phace shares their report: Boeing halted handing over Dreamliners to airlines in late May, after federal air-safety regulators declined to approve the plane maker's proposed method of inspecting the jets for previously disclosed production defects. It was the second such pause in the past year...
The Federal Aviation Administration said the newly discovered quality issue posed no immediate safety threat. While the agency will determine whether to require modifications to 787s already in service, the FAA said: "Boeing has committed to fix these airplanes before resuming deliveries..."
The new problem surfaced on part of the aircraft known as the forward pressure bulkhead at the front of the plane, people familiar with the matter said. It involves the skin of the aircraft and is similar to a previously disclosed Dreamliner issue found elsewhere on the planes, one of these people said. It surfaced as part of the FAA's review of Boeing's quality checks on newly produced undelivered planes, this person said. The delivery pause has been another setback for the aerospace giant, which has been grappling with various problems in its commercial, defense and space programs in recent years. It is also choking off a key source of cash as Boeing tries to overcome twin crises that resulted from two fatal crashes of its 737 MAX aircraft in late 2018 and early 2019, and the Covid-19 pandemic's hit to aircraft demand.
The new problem hasn't raised any immediate safety concerns, but engineers at Boeing and the FAA are trying to understand the defect's potential to cause premature fatigue on a key part of the aircraft's structure, people familiar with the matter said.
Increasingly clear Boeing was (Score:2)
cutting corners for short-term profits. Let's hope the new CEO is not also a wanker.
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His company biography says he's from the private equity world.
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Oh, shit.... that is not a good sign
You'd be amazed how much of corporate America has been destroyed by those guys in the last 50 yrs.
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You could say the same thing about any car manufactured in the world today. Innovation means changing something that worked in the past, usually meaning lighter and cheaper, but sometimes things have unintended consequences.
Would I drive a car that already had two safety recalls? Yes, because it means someone is watching and testing the safety features of that car. Same with aircraft. Every flaw or issue found means the aircraft is getting safer.
Good (Score:4, Interesting)
After killing Canada's aviation industry with BS tariffs [wikipedia.org] I very little sympathy for Boeing and its self-inflicted misfortunes.
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Looks like they read Art Of The Deal.
FOX is not news (Score:3)
This article is quoting "FOX News".
It has been amply proven that they are not a news agency.
They are a propaganda organ.
Re:FOX is not news (Score:4, Informative)
Then here is a less biased source for you: https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2021/7/13/in-fresh-troubles-for-boeing-issues-in-undelivered-dreamliners [aljazeera.com]
Re:FOX is not news (Score:5, Informative)
The Pulitzer-winning Seattle Times has the story. You may have to bypass a paywall.
https://www.seattletimes.com/b... [seattletimes.com]
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That one sounds a lot less alarmist.
Fox Business is not Fox News (Score:2)
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But CNN which was promoting every rumor, speculation, and fake leak about "Russiagate" for years, sure remains a credible news source.
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Go away Rethuglican troll.
Innovation (Score:2)
What was the last Boeing innovation that made you say "wow" ? Nothing, since the 747 everything else has been tweaks here and there. It's time they invented a supersonic airplane or something like that. If they can't do that, I'd settle for in-flight broadband and decent food. Get me Starlink ASAP, while I wait for SpaceX point-to-point.
Re:Innovation (Score:5, Insightful)
787 was innovative. Somewhat too innovative, in fact.
Boeing's problem with it nowadays is shoddy manufacturing quality at the non-union final assembly line. Generally Boeing nowadaya sells by being cheaper than Airbus and skimping on parts and manufacturing is how they manage to be cheaper.
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Boeing is dying for the same reason so many other corporations are, too many psychopaths who main career path is being promoted by telling what ever lies are necessary to achieve that, that is their one and only skill lying to get ahead. This quarters bonus, prepare an escape bonus, jump to new corporations to pillage them.
Want you corporation to survive start testing for psychopathy and fire and do not hire, every psychopath in your executive before they pillage your corporation to death.
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The non-union production line argument is a bit overplayed, since Boeing has plenty of issues at its unionised Washington State lines too - the USAF has rejected several of its KC-46 aircraft for various issues, including poor sealing of fuel tanks, debris left in the fuel tanks etc.
And then we have the issue of all the original production issues on the 787, such as incorrectly installed fasteners etc, all at union shops
But people love to highlight the fact that theres a non-union assembly line which has is
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True, the Seattle FAL had its share of problems, but they are far more pronounced [samchui.com] at the non-union FAL in South Carolina. It is so bad that the Qatar Airways CEO only took up 787 deliveries from the Everett factory. Also TFA suddenly appears after Boeing completely moved the 787 production to Charleston last year. Might be a coincidence, but probably isn't.
The incorrectly installed fasteners are a completely different story though - Boeing rushed to roll out the first prototype, being several years late, co
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I kind of discount anything Qatar has to say on any matter regarding aviation, they are a terrible customer to work with for both Airbus and Boeing - them rejecting aircraft has been a big thing in the past, and they've done it from several Airbus FALs and also Boeings Seattle FALs too...
Regarding the fasteners, you miss the fact that there were more than one issue with them - yes, Boeing used off the shelf fasteners for the roll out of MSN001 and MSN002, having to replace them later on, but the issue that
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What was the last Boeing innovation that made you say "wow" ?
Errr The 787 with its composite wings which stress models show could in theory touch tips above the plane without actually snapping is not only innovative in the airline industry, it presents a huge step forward in material science in general. As an engineer that made me say wow quite loudly. As did the construction method of the main fuselage which is quite innovative (even though they since let QA/QC slip). It was also by far the quietest plane when it was released (which required a lot of actual innovati
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Actually the A380 was quieter at the 787 release and the A350 is more efficient for trips longer than ~6000nm. Nothing beats the 787 for high density medium haul, though.
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Actually the A380 was quieter at the 787 release
You're right sorry I got the release dates between the two confused, I looked them up and incorrectly noted the first test flight not the first commercial flight on the 787. Mind you with the A380 ending production this year the 787 will don that crown.
Also took another look into efficiency. TIL they need to drop payload for increased fuel capacity so can't carry as many passengers and the fuel efficiency goes down giving the A350 an advantage. ... huh. the more you know :-)
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That and the A350 having a much larger wing - the more fuel can be stored in the wing instead of the center tank, providing bending relief and partially getting free lift, the better the fuel efficiency. But since even the smallest A350 has a higher MTOW than the largest 787, it is structurally heavier. A350 is also currently the quietest widebody and I don't think the 777X will change that considering that it will have thinner walls than the current 777.
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767 was innovative because it started the demise of three and four engine long haul jets.
Too few people actually build anything anymore (Score:1)
flagrant overcomplexity (Score:2)
Slows production (Score:2)
Does this mean that they'll be taking them apart?
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