Boeing is facing intense scrutiny over its quality control practices after a near-disaster of an Alaska Airlines flight three weeks ago when a panel exploded.
This January 5 incident on a Boeing 737 MAX 9 followed months earlier, smaller problems with the same aircraft.
Exactly how the current difficulties will be resolved remains to be seen, but both the company’s regulator and its customers are demanding change.
“The quality assurance issues we’ve seen are unacceptable,” said Michael Whitaker, head of the Federal Aviation Administration.
The agency has promised “more boots on the ground” for a comprehensive investigation of Boeing and contractor Spirit AeroSystems, adding that it will increase production only when Boeing gets its house in order.
American Airlines joined rival carriers in signaling displeasure, although it has not been directly affected by the grounding of the 737 MAX 9 because it does not fly the jet.
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“We will hold them accountable,” American Airlines CEO Robert Isom said Thursday on an earnings conference call.
“Boeing needs to come together,” said Isom, who called the problems “unacceptable.”
Previous problems
The Alaska Airlines incident represents the most serious operational problem for Boeing since two crashes of 737 MAX 8 jets in 2018 and 2019 resulted in 346 deaths and led to long grounding of the jet.
MAX also drew unexpected attention in April when it revealed that Spirit had used “a non-standard manufacturing process” when installing two components in the fuselage section.
In December, Boeing urged customers to inspect for loose hardware in the plane’s rudder control systems after an international carrier discovered a bolt with a missing nut during routine maintenance.
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Such problems have slowed Boeing’s ability to deliver aircraft, reducing economic performance.
But the problem on January 5 was on another level.
Video of the incident showed a hole in the side of the plane, air rushing through the cabin, oxygen masks dangling and travelers watching the city lights below.
National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) chair Jennifer Homendy said it was “very, very fortunate” the incident did not end in tragedy.
On Friday, both Alaska Airlines and United Airlines could resume flying MAX 9 planes after the FAA approved inspection protocols on Wednesday.
More oversight
Michel Merluzzo, an aeronautics expert with consultancy AIR, said the MAX’s struggles likely stem from the negative effects of the pandemic on the workforce, which have been “underestimated”, he said.
“The industry has lost a lot of expertise” with retirements and exits in recent years, he said in an interview.
At its plant in Renton, Washington, where the MAX is assembled, Boeing on Thursday held the first of a series of “quality shutdown” events — pauses in normal operations for daylong sessions to focus on quality control.
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The NTSB’s Homendy described the investigation as focused in part on determining why the panel failed, including learning whether there were bolts in the component.
But even if there was an error in the manufacturing process, “the issue should have been discovered” during Boeing’s inspections, Merluzeau said.
“This kind of thing can’t slip through the cracks,” he said.
Alaska Airlines CEO Ben Minicucci said that while he is awaiting formal investigations before commenting on exactly what went wrong, his carrier has also tasked its staff with reviewing Boeing’s procedures.
“We want to watch it with our own eyes, what goes through each phase of the assembly process, putting a second set of eyes on it,” he told CNBC. “And if we see something we don’t like, we’ll raise the flag.”
AerCap CEO Aengus Kelly suggested Boeing needs to rethink its focus, with financial goals taking a backseat to quality and safety, according to an interview with the Financial Times.
Source: AFP