Boeing and Spirit Aerosystems earlier this week expanded the scope of their ongoing inspections related to aft pressure bulkhead structure on the 737 Max 8 aircraft, the Air Current reported on Thursday, citing two people familiar with the matter.

The planemaker had in August identified a new quality problem with its popular 737 MAX aircraft involving supplier Spirit that resulted in improperly drilled holes on the aft pressure bulkhead. Boeing had then said the defect would delay its near-term deliveries.

The company earlier this week notified the Federal Aviation Administration of its initial findings, along with customers already facing delivery delays of 737 Max 8s, the report said.

Boeing and Spirit did not immediately respond to Reuters' requests for a comment.

Spirit had earlier said because it uses multiple suppliers for the aft pressure bulkhead, not all 737 fuselages are impacted by the new "elongated" hole problem.

Deliveries of Boeing's best-selling 737 MAX fell in September to the lowest level since August 2021, as it continues struggling with work needed to correct the manufacturing defect.

(Reporting by Shivansh Tiwary in Bengaluru; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar)