2 things come into play here. Since 9/11 there had been so little demand for aircraft fasteners that many suppliers dried up. Some were “absorbed” by other fastener companies and some merely dumped all their inventory as scrap. Secondly due to all the new requirements pertaining to new composites, new fasteners had to be invented.
There is a big helicopter maker in Connecticut that is unable to secure fasteners that have been engineered into their products.
Their complaint is that the 787 is sucking up all the world’s existing stock.
I think this is a problem, with the potential to become major, that no one ever considered.
There is a lot of cost involved in the mfr of a simple aircraft rivet or screw...testing, material records, records retention, etc.
I would hate to be he poor sap involved in those logistics!