Boeing Resumes 767 Type Deliveries After Quality Issue Pause
Artist's impression of a Boeing 767F Freighter in FedEx livery. Deliveries of the aircraft to FedEx and the KC-46 variant to USAF have resumed after a quality issue forced a pause.
Photo (artwork) courtesy: Boeing.
Boeing Co. has restarted deliveries of its widebody 767 aircraft after a three-month pause caused by supplier quality issues, the company confirmed on Wednesday.
The U.S. aerospace company was forced to halt deliveries of the 767F freighter and KC-46 tanker, which are both based on the 767-300ER passenger jet, 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 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.
The Boeing 767 is a twin-engine widebody jet that first flew in 1981. It has been produced in several variants, including the 767-200, -300 and -400 passenger jets, and the 767-200ER and -300ER extended-range jets. The only variants still in production today are the 767-300ER Freighter and the KC-46 tanker, which is derived from the freighter version.
FedEx is the largest operator of the 767F, with 75 aircraft in service and 27 more on order as of February 2023. The last delivery Boeing made of a 767 before the pause was also to FedEx in December 2022.
Craig has decades of experience contributing to Flight International, Aviation Week, KCRW, NPR, and appearances on the Discovery, Military and History Channels.
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