Written by David Shepherdson and Alison Lampert
(Reuters) – Deliveries of Boeing Co.’s planes to China have been delayed in recent weeks due to Chinese regulatory reviews of batteries related to cockpit voice recorders, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.
The U.S. aircraft maker said in a statement that it is discussing delivery timing with Chinese customers as the Civil Aviation Administration of China completes an inspection of the batteries in the 25-hour cockpit voice recorder.
Boeing said in its end-2023 filing that it had about 140 737 MAX 8 planes in inventory, 85 of which were for Chinese customers. Boeing has 22 planes delivered to China through the end of April 2024, but in recent weeks the U.S. planemaker has not delivered any new planes to Chinese customers, pending a previously unreported review.
It is unclear how long the review will last or how much it will affect Boeing’s delivery targets.
Boeing said the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has certified the 25-hour cockpit voice recorder (CVR) system, which stores more data than previous versions of CVR, and that it has also been accepted by European regulators.
Boeing said it would “defer to the FAA and CAAC in any discussion of this regulation.” The FAA did not immediately comment.
Boeing in January resumed deliveries of its top-selling 737 Max jetliner to Chinese airlines, ending a nearly five-year import freeze and previewing the possible delivery of a backlog of several dozen completed Max planes to China.
China became the first country to ground its MAX jets after two crashes in 2018 and 2019 that killed 346 people.
Congress this month approved a bill that would require all future planes to have 25-hour cockpit voice recorders.
Aircraft deliveries are closely watched by Wall Street because plane makers get to recoup most of what’s due them when they deliver jets to customers.
China’s Ministry of Commerce announced on Monday that it would ban some U.S. companies from China-related import and export activities, including arms sales to Taiwan, and ban new investments in China, Reuters reported, citing state media. Ta. The list also includes Boeing Defense, Space and Security.
Boeing’s deliveries to China have been a source of frustration for U.S. officials.
In 2021, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said the Chinese government was blocking domestic airlines from purchasing “tens of billions of dollars worth” of American Boeing planes.
(Reporting by David Shepardson in Washington and Alison Lampert in Montreal; Editing by Richard Chan)
