FAA final AD 2026-20-10: Boeing 787s must replace outboard slat geared rotary actuators with lockout actuators

The Federal Aviation Administration published a final airworthiness directive in the October 8, 2026, Federal Register (91 FR 64259; FR Doc. 2026-20680; AD 2026-20-10, Amendment 39-23483). It supersedes AD 2019-20-07 for The Boeing Company Model 787-8, 787-9, and 787-10 airplanes and is effective November 12, 2026.

AD 2019-20-07 required repetitive operational checks of the leading-edge outboard slats, an airplane flight manual revision prohibiting flap retraction under icing conditions after landing, and a maintenance/inspection program update. The new AD keeps those requirements until operators replace the leading-edge outboard geared rotary actuator (GRA) with a leading-edge outboard lockout actuator (LEOLA) and incorporate a new certification maintenance requirement that terminates the retained actions. The AD also removes some airplanes from applicability.

The FAA estimates the AD affects 174 airplanes of U.S. registry. Retained repetitive operational checks alone are estimated at 8 work-hours × $85/hour = $680 per check ($118,320 across the U.S. fleet per check cycle), with the AFM revision at about $85 per airplane ($14,790 fleetwide).

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Docket No. FAA-2026-2712; Project Identifier AD-2025-00931-T; RIN 2120-AA64. Source: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/10/08/2026-20680/airworthiness-directives-the-boeing-company-airplanes · PDF: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2026-10-08/pdf/2026-20680.pdf

Photo: Qatar Airways Boeing 787 Dreamliner A7-BCD PAS 2013 01 Door.jpg, CC BY 4.0 by Julian Herzog (Website) via Wikimedia Commons (illustrative; not an AD compliance photo).