Boeing's New 787 Dreamliner Won FAA Approval Before Shutdown Hit

Boeing’s newest and largest 787 Dreamliner got the federal approval it needs to fly commercially, winning authorization before the government shutdown Friday.

The certification concludes a flight-test program that began last March for the first of the 787-10 carbon-fiber jets to be assembled solely at Boeing’s South Carolina factory, the Chicago-based planemaker said Monday.

That clears one of two new Boeing airplanes that were on the verge of winning approval from the Federal Aviation Administration as the shutdown loomed. The second plane awaiting a green light is the 737 Max 9, a new single-aisle model, according to the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, the union representing FAA certification workers. FAA certification usually sets the pace for other regulators.

Singapore Airlines, the 787-10 launch customer, said it expects to get its first airplane in late March. The jetliner is the last of three planned Dreamliner models to enter the market, and is designed to haul 330 people as far as 6,430 nautical miles (11,910 kilometers).

(Julie Johnsson - Bloomberg News)