Part causes Boeing 787 deliveries to stop again

Boeing has again stopped deliveries of its 787 passenger jet because of questions around a supplier’s analysis of a part near the front of the plane, company and federal officials have announced.

Boeing said in a statement Thursday that the issue does not raise an immediate safety issue for planes already in service. The Federal Aviation Administration was more cautious, saying it is working with Boeing to determine what fixes might be needed for planes recently delivered to airlines.

The discovery is the latest setback involving the two-aisle plane, which Boeing calls the Dreamliner and is mostly used on international routes. Deliveries were stopped for more than a year, until August 2022, while Boeing fixed production flaws including the fit of panels on the carbon-composite skin.

A Boeing spokesperson said the company “discovered an analysis error by our supplier related to the 787 forward pressure bulkhead,” a part that separates the nose of the plane from the pressurized cabin. Boeing did not name the supplier.

Also on Thursday, Boeing announced that it expects to end production of the F/A-18 Super Hornet fighter jet in late 2025 after a final delivery to the U.S. Navy.

Production of the plane could be stretched out to 2027 if India places an order, the company said.

The first F/A-18 debuted in 1983 and was built by Mcdonnell Douglas, which merged with Boeing in 1997. More than 2,000 Hornets, Super Hornets and Growlers have been delivered to the U.S. military and the governments of many allies, including Canada, Finland, Australia and Malaysia.

The Super Hornet was prominently featured in the 2022 movie “Top Gun: Maverick,” with Tom Cruise.

But the plane’s fate has been in doubt in recent years. The Navy had planned not to buy any Super Hornets after fall 2021, citing the age of the plane’s design. Only an act of Congress kept production running.