What does Fort Worth (Lockheed/Martin F-35 production facility) have to do with this problem?
No engines = no test flying.
The program has already slipped multiple times and tis will almost certainly cause another slip - particularly for the F-35C sea carrier trials. So, yes, I imagine there are a lot of meetings and contingency planning going on...
AW&ST: .....The F-35 flight test program has missed about 30 "flight test opportunities," or scheduled flight test sortie slots, since the fleet remains on the ground after an F-35A caught fire June 23 while preparing for takeoff, says U.S. Air Force Lt. Gen. Christopher Bogdan, the program executive officer overseeing the project........
"Is it a big deal in the big scheme of things? It is not," Bogdan said of the effect of the stand-down thus far. To catch up, testers can simply add a couple of flights weekly for a short period — but only if flights resume soon and if no major shortcomings are found in further flight tests.
The F-35C, designed for use on U.S. aircraft carriers, is the variant most sensitive to schedule disruptions at the moment because it is being tightly managed leading up to its initial at-sea trials on an aircraft carrier this fall. "That is the thing to make up the most time on" once aircraft return to flight, Bogdan says, noting carrier schedules are rigid. "Their schedule is not going to flex for us." If the F-35C misses its window for sea operations in the fall, Bogdan says there are backup opportunities for those tests in 2015......