Aircraft manufacturer Boeing reported another problem with the fuselages of its 737 planes, which could delay deliveries of about 50 planes.
Boeing Commercial Airplanes CEO Stan Deal said in a letter to Boeing staff, which was viewed Monday, that an employee of his supplier discovered holes that may not have been drilled as required. to specifications in the fuselages.
Spirit AeroSystems, based in Wichita, Kansas, manufactures many of the fuselages for Boeing Max aircraft.
“While this potential condition does not constitute an immediate safety concern and all 737s can continue to operate safely, we currently believe we will need to perform rework on approximately 50 undelivered aircraft,” Deal said in the letter to employees shared with the media.
Boeing and Spirit AeroSystems are facing scrutiny over the quality of their work after an Alaska Airlines 737 Max 9 was forced to make an emergency landing on January 5 when a door was torn from the side of the plane shortly after takeoff from Portland, Oregon.
Authorities are investigating the incident.
Boeing, which is based in Renton, Washington, announced last week that it was withdrawing a request for a safety exemption needed to certify a new, smaller model of the 737 Max airliner.
Boeing asked federal regulators late last year to allow delivery of its 737 Max 7 jetliner to customers, even though it does not meet a safety standard designed to prevent part of the crankcase engine from overheating and breaking down during flight.