Airlines that have pending orders for Boeing's 787 Dreamliner will have to wait even longer for them to be filled after the company decided Friday to suspend delivery of its newest jetliner, dpa reported.
"We will not deliver 787s until the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) approves a means of compliance with their recent airworthiness directive concerning batteries and the approved approach has been implemented," said Marc Birtel in an interview with Bloomberg.
The FAA ordered Wednesday that Dreamliners in the US be taken out of service, saying it was investigating lithium-ion battery problems that raised safety concerns. It was the first time in 34 years that the FAA had issued such a directive. Regulators around the world followed suit leaving Dreamliners grounded in Japan, India, Qatar and Chile.
Safety concerns about the long-haul aircraft mounted after an All Nippon Airways (ANA) flight made an emergency landing this week in Japan after a battery problem appeared on cockpit screens and the pilot reported an unusual smell.
Chicago-based Boeing has so far delivered 50 Dreamliners, half of them to airlines in Japanese carriers.
Birtel said production of the 787s would continue. Bloomberg said there were about 800 unfilled orders for the aircraft.