Originally Posted by
george77300
I’m not sure on the A350s, but regarding the 787s they are simply not certified to be delivered. Boeing requires FAA to approve various things before they can be delivered. (Boeing have not delivered a single 787 to anyone for 12 months.) This approval keeps getting pushed back. Now until “second half of 2022” from the just gone May. Boeing have about 120 planes to deliver so it’s a question of how quick they can deliver the backlog and which customers are the priority/need them quickest.
A big issue here is that Boeing had a program where the folks inspecting their aircraft were Boeing employees. Growing up in Seattle, and having family members working for Boeing, I've known a few of these people. However, apparently the inspectors in Charleston, S.C. weren't quite up to the previous standards. This caused quality problems, and the FAA decided that it was no longer adequate for Boeing to self-inspect. Worse though, is that it's not like the FAA has an army of inspectors to take over. Either they can poach inspectors from Boeing and re-train, or they need to train new inspectors. This takes time. Finally, the inspectors I knew have all pretty much retired, so I would guess that the Boeing inspectors in Charleston were pretty inexperienced to begin with. It's probably still going to take quite some time before we see another 787-10 come off the line in Charleston.