American Airlines has taken delivery of a Boeing 787 Dreamliner after U.S. aviation regulators suspended deliveries for most of the previous 21 months.Boeing delivered the plane to the airline on Aug. 10 at its aircraft factory in North Charleston, South Carolina.
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The Fort Worth-based airline’s Robert Isom celebrated the event on Instagram — “This is an exciting day for American Airlines as we take delivery of our first Boeing 787 since April 2021 — 8. The 787 is an important part of American’s fleet and this is the first of nine 787s we expect to receive this year.”
Boeing confirmed that it had resumed 787 deliveries “following our thorough engineering analysis, validation and rework activities to ensure all aircraft meet Boeing’s stringent specifications and regulatory requirements”.
“We remain committed to transparent discussions with our regulators, customers and suppliers to ensure we continue to deliver aircraft that meet all regulatory requirements and Boeing’s highest quality standards,” the planemaker said.
Boeing Commercial Airplanes CEO Stan Deal told employees in an internal note: “Resuming deliveries of the (787) is a start. I look forward to more as we continue to focus on safety, quality and stability.”
Earlier this week, the FAA said the Arlington, Virginia-based planemaker would resume deliveries of its troubled 787 Dreamliner in the next few days, without further specifying a timetable.
The U.S. aviation regulator said Boeing had “made the necessary changes to ensure that the 787 Dreamliner meets all certification standards.”
The FAA said it will inspect every 787 before certification and delivery.
Last month, American hinted at a possible timeline, with company executives telling analysts on the company’s quarterly earnings call that they expected Boeing to resume deliveries in the third quarter.
In addition to the nine 787-8s it will accept this year, American plans to take delivery of four of the model in 2023 and 12 in 2024. American has 42 787s on order. Both planes are expected to arrive at the airline as early as this month, Isom said.
Currently, American has 47 787s in two variants, the -8 and -9.
Boeing has not delivered 787s for most of the past 21 months — since October 2020 — due to build quality issues, mostly involving larger-than-specified gaps between fuselage sections. Boeing resumed briefly in 2021 and then paused.
Deliveries of the 787 also came to a halt as Boeing stopped production of the 787 at its main manufacturing plant in Everett, making its North Charleston, South Carolina plant the sole production site for the widebody.
Quality concerns have spurred widespread scrutiny by the FAA, which has stepped up its oversight since it was criticized for its certification of the 737 Max.
Boeing added on Aug. 10 that the manufacturing issue does not pose an immediate concern for the flight safety of the in-service fleet. Also, the body now coming off the production line does not require post-production connection verification and rework.
Boeing launched the Dreamliner program in 2004, and the first airframe entered revenue service in October 2011. The company added that nearly 1,500 787s have been ordered by 80 customers from six continents.