Italy sub-contractor at the centre of Boeing 787 Dreamliner snags

Reuters - An Italian subcontractor at the centre of the latest snags to emerge on the Boeing 787 Dreamliner has worked for a broad set of aerospace companies including Spirit AeroSystems, according to industry sources and documents.

Boeing and regulators had said early some 787 jetliners parts were improperly made over the past three years. They were supplied indirectly by the Leonardo Manufacturing Process Specification MPS as a sub-contractor to Manufacturing Process Specification.

In March, Boeing warned Spirit AeroSystems about suspected problems with parts at MPS and asked it to use alternative suppliers as it continued an audit of the Italian company's operations, according to a letter found by Reuters.

It also asked Wichita-based Spirit to trace any MPS parts it had used back to 2017 and to treat them as suspect nonconforming, meaning they would be subject to further checks.

Out of an abundance of caution while Boeing conducts further testing and evaluation, Boeing has also decided to consider all products processed by MPS suspect, it said.

Boeing and Spirit had no immediate comment on the letter. Boeing said earlier the problems did not pose any immediate safety issues to 787 Dreamliners already in service.

Brindisi, Italy-based MPS, coatings supplier, did not respond to phone calls and an emailed request for comment.

MPS is also a supplier to Airbus, according to a list available by the planemaker's website.

A spokesperson for the European company had no immediate comment when asked whether it or its suppliers had recently used any parts involving work carried out by MPS.