July 14, 2021: -Boeing cut its delivery target for its undelivered 787 Dreamliners planes and said it would increase temporarily fewer production rates after a new defect was detected on some of the wide-body jets.

On Tuesday, Boeing said it will deliver fewer than half of the Dreamliners it has produced but has not yet delivered to customers.

At an investor conference last month, CEO Dave Calhoun said that the company would deliver the “lion’s share” of the 100 Dreamliners in its inventory this year.

In May, Boeing halted deliveries of the wide-body planes for the second time in less than a year as the Federal Aviation Administration reviewed the manufacturer’s method for aircraft evaluation. In the previous year, Boeing first disclosed incorrect spacing in some parts of specific 787 aircraft, which include the fuselage, and halt the deliveries for five months.

On Monday, the FAA said the latest issue was related to that and was detected “near the nose” of certain 787 Dreamliners manufactured by Boeing and has not been delivered.

Because most of the aircraft price is paid when the plane is handed to customers, more delivery delays would mean even more financial strain for Boeing. The company tries to regain its footing in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic and two fatal crashes that grounded its best-selling 737 Max.

The shares of Boeing were decreased around 1.8% in premarket trading.

“This issue was discovered as part of the ongoing system-wide inspection of Boeing’s 787 shimming processes required by the FAA,” the agency said. “Although the issue poses no immediate threat to flight safety, Boeing has committed to fixing these airplanes before resuming deliveries.”

Boeing said it could reduce production to fewer than the current five planes a month for a few weeks but came down to say the amount. Boeing will reassign staff on the production line to inspect planes and make any necessary repairs.

“Based on data, the FAA can determine if its similar modifications should be made on 787s already in commercial service,” the FAA said.

On Tuesday, Boeing also said it delivered 45 planes in the previous month, 33 737 Maxes. In the first half of the year, the company handed almost 156 planes, one less than its total for all from 2020, when coronavirus devastated the industry.

Net orders for the month around 146 planes, while gross orders of 219 were the highest in two years.

The things include an order for 200 Maxes to United Airlines, which the carrier announced in the previous month, along with 70 Airbus narrow-body planes.