Boeing Recognises Errors in Max Incident but Pressure Expected Long Term
Global News - Boeing Co (NYSE:BA) boss Dave Calhoun has said the company acknowledges errors after a piece blew off one of its 737 Max 9 jets, operated by Alaska Air, earlier this month.
Speaking to employees on Tuesday, the chief executive said: “We're going to approach this, number one, acknowledging our mistake.
“We’re going to approach it with 100% complete transparency every step of the way.”
Boeing has faced pressure to shed light on the causes of the incident, which saw a door plug panel - where an exit would otherwise be - fall from one of its jets mid-flight.
This has prompted the grounding of over 170 of the jet 737 Max 9 jets worldwide since, with US operators Alaska Air and United Airlines being the hardest hit.
“We’re starting from a very anxious moment with our customers,” Calhoun added, with his speech marking the first public acknowledgement of the incident by Boeing.
Both Alaska and United have reported finding “loose” parts in the door plugs on some grounded planes in initial investigations, with the latter saying this implied “installation issues”.
These included “bolts that needed additional tightening”, United added.
Ex-US House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee chair Peter DeFazio said light should be shone on Boeing’s subcontractors meanwhile, including Spirit AeroSystems which built the failed door plug.
Boeing has been “happy with the crappy stuff from Spirit because it's cheap”, he commented.
DeFazio previously led an investigation into Boeing after two of its Max jets crashed in 2018 and 2019, killing 346 people.
Spirit AeroSystems had previously faced hits over quality concerns relating to parts it supplied for fuselage fittings to Boeing jets, including the 737 Max 8.
Such issues prompted 737 deliveries to be partially paused at the front end of last year.
“The problem is that it is far from an isolated incident,” Hargreaves Lansdown (LON:HRGV) analyst Susannah Streeter commented, following the recent blow out.
“The fatal crashes in Ethiopia and Indonesia are a stain on the company’s reputation,” she added, “it’s going to take considerable time to build back up confidence.”
Boeing shares have fallen nearly 9% so far this week.
Source: investing
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