© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: The Boeing logo is displayed on a screen, at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S., August 7, 2019. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid
By Valerie Insinna
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Boeing (NYSE:) Co confirmed on Wednesday it had restarted deliveries of its widebody 767 after a three-month pause caused by supplier quality issues.
The U.S. planemaker was forced to halt deliveries of the 767F freighter and KC-46 tanker earlier this year after it discovered center fuel tanks made by a supplier were not properly sealed.
Boeing declined to comment on when 767 deliveries restarted, but flight data shows it handed over a 767F freighter to FedEx (NYSE:) on March 24. The same day, Boeing’s defense unit tweeted that a KC-46 tanker had been delivered to the U.S. Air Force.
Another FedEx freighter flew from Paine Field north of Seattle to Indianapolis on Tuesday.
While Boeing maintained the fuel tank issue would not impact its ability to meet its annual delivery goals, the company had to remove and repaint the center fuel tank of affected aircraft before deliveries could resume.
Stan Deal, head of Boeing Commercial Airplanes, told reporters last week that the company would resume 767 freighter deliveries “shortly,” with KC-46 tanker deliveries following afterwards.
“We have a paint adhesion (problem), the sealer did not adhere properly. So, we’ve got to go in and make sure that it’s all conforming. It’s taken quite a bit of time to do,” Deal said, adding that the company was still evaluating how many aircraft will need to be reworked.
