Officials with Spirit Aerosystems in Wichita said a design issue may lead to a short-term downturn in the production of Boeing’s 737 MAX at the company’s manufacturing facility.
The manufacturing issue involves the installation of two fittings to the aircraft’s aft fuselage section. Spirit Aerosystems builds the complete fuselage of the 737 aircraft. The problem is believed to date back to 2019 and Boeing officials are checking to see how many aircraft could be affected.
There’s no immediate safety issue and the Federal Aviation Administration will evaluate all affected aircraft before delivery. Boeing said the issue will likely affect a significant number of undelivered 737 MAX aircraft in production and in storage.
