Source: AFP
A top Boeing executive has apologized for problems highlighted by an exploding door plug during an Alaska Airlines flight, as two airlines began returning troubled 737 MAX 9 jets to service.
The comments on Friday by Stan Deal, CEO of Boeing’s commercial airplane unit, came three weeks after a door stopper on an Alaska Air flight blew off in mid-air, focusing intense scrutiny on the giant plane maker and forcing the grounding of 171 planes for reasons security. checks.
Alaska Air, a major user of the model, began returning MAX 9 planes to service on Friday, and United Airlines followed on Saturday.
“Our long-term focus is on improving our quality so we can regain the trust of our customers, our regulator and the flying public,” Boeing’s Deal wrote in a memo to staff. “Frankly, we have let them down and let them down. We are deeply sorry.”
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United Airlines, whose fleet of 79 Max 9 planes is the largest in the world, used the model for a Saturday morning flight from Newark, New Jersey, to Las Vegas, Nevada, carrying 181 passengers and crew. He said more flights would follow.
The MAX 9 accounted for about 8 percent of United’s capacity in the first quarter, Chief Executive Scott Kirby said.
Analysts say MAX 9-related disruptions could cost airlines millions of dollars.
Boeing’s Deal said that in the weeks following the Alaska Airlines incident, several steps had been taken “to strengthen quality assurance and controls.”
They included adding new levels of quality controls for the affected models and appointing a retired admiral, Kirkland Donald, to oversee an independent review of Boeing’s safety and quality practices.
This week, 10,000 Boeing employees working on 737 MAX production stopped work for a day to discuss ways to improve safety practices, “a quality suspension on a scale we’ve never done before,” according to Deal.
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He added that along with Alaska Airlines and United, Aeromexico and Turkish Airlines are set to return their 737 MAX 9s to service “in the coming days.”
The US Federal Aviation Administration grounded 171 MAX 9 planes after the January 5 incident, in which a door plug blew out mid-flight.
Although no one was seriously injured, inspectors said the episode could have been catastrophic.
The US Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigated the incident and is expected to present its findings next week.
Source: AFP