American Airlines has confirmed that it has taken delivery of a brand new Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, becoming the first airline to get one of the aircraft from Boeing since the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) halted deliveries last year because production flaws were discovered.
The FAA approved an inspection and repair plan developed by Boeing earlier this week after months of intense negotiations. American Airlines was widely tipped to be the first carrier to take delivery of a 787 Dreamliner after the delivery embargo was lifted.
“American received its first Boeing 787-8 aircraft this year and its first since April 2021,” the airline said in a statement on Wednesday. “The aircraft, with U.S. Registration No. N880BJ, was delivered from Charleston, South Carolina, and is expected to enter commercial service in the coming weeks”.
The Dallas Fort Worth-based airline currently has 47 Dreamliners in its fleet and has a further 42 on order.
American has been forced to temper planned capacity because of the delivery delays but the airline plans to take a further eight 787s before the end of the year. Since the FAA put a hold on deliveries in May 2021, Boeing has built up a backlog of 120 Dreamliners ready to be delivered.
The aerospace giant also suspended production of 787s while the flaws were worked through and, as a result, it will take Boeing several months to ramp up production.
Last month, Boeing revealed it had taken a hit of $3.5 billion as a result of the 787 program being suspended and a further $1 billion in costs could arise from fixing production flaws.
