|
Spirit, which manufactures fuselage, thrust reversers, engine
pylons and wing components for the 737 MAX airplanes, slumped
more than 11.7%.
The latest quality issue pertains to aft fuselage fittings
supplied by Spirit and is believed to date back to 2019, Boeing
disclosed on Thursday.
"We see more negative financial exposure to this news at Spirit
than at Boeing," said J.P. Morgan analyst Seth Seifman.
Boeing warned that the issue will likely affect a "significant"
number of undelivered 737 MAX airplanes both in production and
in storage, and could result in lowered 737 MAX deliveries in
the near term.
The development comes as the industry grapples with a shortage
of jets.
"Boeing's plans to boost production may need to wait, though we
think management prioritizes supply chain momentum over
inventory management," Seifman said.
Melius Research analyst Scott Mikus said it was not entirely
clear if the pause in deliveries will have an impact on the
aerospace giant's cash flow.
"It depends how many aircraft are impacted, how long it'll take
to do any inspections and rework," Mikus added.
The problem, which affects a portion of the 737 MAX family of
airplanes, including the MAX 7, MAX 8 and MAX 8200 airplanes as
well as the P-8 Poseidon maritime surveillance aircraft based on
the 737 NG, is not a safety of flight issue and in-service
planes can continue to operate, Boeing said.
In February, the planemaker had to temporarily halt deliveries
of its 787 Dreamliner jets to conduct additional analysis on a
fuselage component.
(Reporting by Aishwarya Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj
Kalluvila)
[© 2023 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.
|
|
