The latest supply-chain snag could prevent it from meeting its 400-aircraft delivery objective this year.
Boeing is unsure how many aircraft will need to be fixed due to a quality issue that caused inappropriate rear pressure bulkhead holes.
Boeing said the defect will delay near-term deliveries and the company is evaluating whether it could cause it to miss its annual delivery target of at least 400 737s this year.The new supply-chain snag is the latest issue to impede deliveries of the cash-generating MAX following Boeing’s disclosure of a problem in April that Spirit had improperly installed brackets joining the aft fuselage to the vertical tail.
Spirit said that because it uses multiple suppliers for the aft pressure bulkhead, not all 737 fuselages are impacted by the new “elongated” hole problem. So far, Boeing believes the defect is limited to a portion of its bestselling MAX 8 model, but the company is evaluating whether older-model 737 Next Generation jets are also impacted.