Boeing’s
new
737
MAX-9
is
pictured
under
construction
at
their
production
facility
in
Renton,
Washington,
Feb.
13,
2017.
Jason
Redmond
|
Reuters
Boeing‘s
plan
to
get
back
on
solid
footing
after
a
series
of
quality
flaws
in
its
best-selling
jet
suffered
a
near-disastrous
blow
Friday
when
a
plane
panel
blew
out
during
an
Alaska
Airlines
flight,
leaving
a
gaping
hole
in
Row
26.
The
Federal
Aviation
Administration
less
than
a
day
later
ordered
a
grounding
of
most
737
Max
9
planes,
affecting
some
171
aircraft
worldwide,
so
they
can
be
inspected.
On
Sunday,
the
the
agency
said,
“they
will
remain
grounded
until
the
FAA
is
satisfied
that
they
are
safe.”
Several
factors
onboard
Alaska
Airlines
Flight
1282
Friday
afternoon
—
including
its
lower-than-cruising
altitude
and
unoccupied
seats
where
it
mattered
most
—
helped
avoid
serious
injury,
or
worse,
for
the
flight’s
171
passengers
and
six
crew.
The
force
from
the
event
was
so
violent
it
appeared
to
have
ripped
some
headrests
and
seatbacks
out
of
the
cabin,
according
to
early
details
of
the
federal
investigation.
The
terrifying
incident
means
renewed
scrutiny
for
Boeing,
which
has
been
working
to
get
its
737
Max
program
back
on
track
after
two
fatal
crashes,
the
Covid-19
pandemic’s
supply-chain
havoc,
and
a
series
of
smaller
but
troubling
quality
issues
in
recent
months.
The
737
Max
9
flown
by
Alaska
Airlines
on
Friday
was
delivered
less
than
three
months
ago.
“The
fact
that
it
was
a
practically
brand-new
aircraft
is
a
cause
for
concern,”
said
Jim
Hall,
a
former
chairman
of
the
National
Transportation
Safety
Board.
United
Airlines
and
Alaska
Airlines,
the
largest
operators
of
the
737
Max
9,
on
Saturday
said
they
suspended
flights
with
those
planes,
forcing
the
carriers
to
cancel
more
than
400
flights.
‘Transitional
year’
Boeing’s
leadership
has
spent
roughly
five
years
regrouping
after
the
2018
and
2019
fatal
crashes
of
its
smaller
and
more
popular
Boeing
737
Max
8,
which
prompted
a
worldwide
grounding
of
the
both
the
Max
8
and
Max
9,
the
two
types
flying
commercially.
It
successfully
won
back
regulator
approval
to
allow
carriers
to
fly
the
planes
in
late
2020
and
has
won
hundreds
of
new
orders
for
the
planes
as
airlines
trip
over
each
other
to
secure
new
jets,
which
are
sold
out
for
most
of
this
decade
at
Boeing
and
rival
Airbus.
Boeing
has
been
trying
to
ramp
up
production
of
the
workhorse
jet
while
simultaneously
stamping
out
quality
issues
such
as
rudder
system
bolts
that
were
possibly
loose
and
holes
that
were
incorrectly
drilled
on
certain
aircraft.
Those
defects
prompted
additional
inspections
and
in
some
cases
slowed
down
deliveries
to
airlines.
Boeing
still
hasn’t
won
regulator
approval
for
carriers
to
start
flying
the
smallest
Max
7
and
largest
Max
10
models.
“I’ve
heard
from
a
few
of
you
wondering
if
we’ve
lost
a
step
in
this
recovery,”
Boeing
CEO
Dave
Calhoun
told
Wall
Street
analysts
on
an
earnings
call
in
October.
“You
might
not
be
surprised
to
hear
that
I
view
it
as
exactly
the
opposite.
Over
the
last
several
years,
we’ve
added
rigor
around
our
quality
processes.”
Calhoun
said
last
month
in
a
statement
announcing
a
new
COO
that
2024
would
be
a
“significant
transitional
year
in
our
performance
as
we
continue
to
restore
our
operational
and
financial
strength.”
Wall
Street
analysts
expect
Boeing
to
post
its
sixth
consecutive
quarterly
net
loss
when
it
reports
results
on
Jan.
31,
according
to
FactSet
estimates.
They
also
expect
the
manufacturer
to
be
profitable
this
year,
starting
in
the
first
quarter.
Shares
of
Boeing
gained
close
to
37%
in
2023,
the
stock’s
best
percentage
gain
since
2017
and
its
first
annual
gain
since
a
modest
rise
in
2019.
Flight
risk
Jennifer
Homendy,
the
chair
of
the
National
Transportation
Safety
Board,
which
is
leading
the
investigation
into
Friday’s
accident,
said
at
a
press
briefing
Saturday
night
in
Portland,
Oregon,
that
the
probe
is
centered
around
the
Alaska
Airlines
flight
and
the
plane,
not
the
entire
fleet
of
Boeing
737
Maxes.
There
will
be
big
questions
to
answer
about
how
exactly
the
panel
blew
out
at
16,000
feet,
putting
a
plane
full
of
passengers
at
risk.
Fuselage
supplier
Spirit
Aerosystems
said
it
installed
the
plug
door,
an
emergency
exit
door
that’s
cut
into
the
plane
but
not
intended
for
use
under
certain
plane
configurations,
like
those
on
United
and
Alaska,
and
is
therefore
sealed
off.
A
Boeing
spokeswoman
declined
to
comment
on
whether
Boeing
is
the
last
to
seal
the
door
before
the
planes
are
delivered
to
airlines,
citing
the
ongoing
investigation.
John
Goglia,
a
former
member
of
the
NTSB
and
a
transportation
safety
consultant,
said
that
the
Alaska
Airlines
incident
will
likely
be
a
“blip”
for
Boeing
but
argued
federal
regulators
should
further
scrutinize
Boeing
as
it
gears
up
to
produce
even
more
737
Maxes.
“If
I
was
the
FAA,
I’d
say,
‘Show
me
six
months
where
you
don’t
have
any
assembly
problems,'”
he
said.
“The
FAA
needs
to
slow
Boeing
down.”
According
to
Jefferies,
the
737
Max
9
represents
just
2%
of
Boeing’s
backlog
of
more
than
4,500
Max
planes.
It’s
far
less
popular
than
the
Max
8,
which
accounts
for
around
68%
of the Maxes
that
customers
have
ordered
from
Boeing.
And
while
the
planes
will
remain
grounded
for
the
time
being,
some
safety
experts
don’t
expect
the
same
level
of
impact
on
the
company
as
it
saw
after
the
2018
and
2019
Max
crashes,
in
which
a
piece
of
flight-control
software
was
implicated.
Richard
Aboulafia,
managing
director
at
aviation
consulting
firm
Aerodynamic
Advisory,
said
the
problem
on
the
Alaska
Airlines
plane
appears
to
be
a
manufacturing
problem,
not
an
inherent
design
flaw.
That
should
make
the
investigation
and
recovery
easier
for
Boeing,
he
said.
And,
of
course,
there’s
the
fact
that
no
one
died
following
Friday’s
flight
in
contrast
to
the
346
people
who
were
killed
in
the
2018
and
2019
crashes.
Narrowly
escaping
tragedy
No
serious
injuries
were
reported
after
the
Alaska
Airlines
flight.
No
one
was
seated
in
26A
and
26B,
the
window
and
middle
seats
next
to
the
panel
that
blew
out.
The
plane
hadn’t
yet
reached
cruising
altitude
—
which
can
be
double
the
16,000
feet
where
the
incident
occurred
—
also
helping
matters,
because
passengers
and
flight
attendants
weren’t
walking
around
the
cabin.
As
of
Saturday
night,
the
NTSB
was
asking
the
public
for
help
finding
the
lost
door,
which
investigators
believe
landed
in
a
Portland
suburb.
“We
don’t
often
talk
about
psychological
injury,
but
I’m
sure
that
happened
here,”
Homendy,
the
NTSB
chair
said
at
a
news
conference
in
Portland
on
Saturday
night.
“We
are
very,
very
fortunate
that
this
didn’t
end
up
as
something
more
tragic,”
Homendy
said.
