Boeing has cleared a key hurdle with federal regulators and could soon resume deliveries of its large 787 airliner, which has been plagued by a series of production issues since late 2020, a person familiar with the matter said Saturday.
The Federal Aviation Administration notified Boeing on Friday that it would approve the company’s process for validating fixes to each plane before they are delivered to airline customers, said the person, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a decision that has not been publicly announced.
The FAA declined to comment and referred inquiries to Boeing. In a statement, Boeing said only, “We will continue to work transparently with the FAA and our customers towards resuming 787 deliveries.”
Approval to resume deliveries would be a boost for Boeing, which collects a big chunk of each plane’s purchase price at delivery. Boeing has accumulated a backlog of about 120 undelivered 787s. The plane, which Boeing calls the Dreamliner, lists at $248 million to $338 million depending on size, although airlines pay far less than sticker price.