Aerial photo showing a Boeing 737 MAX aircraft parked on the tarmac at the Boeing factory in Renton, Washington, USA on March 21, 2019.
Lindsay Wasson | Reuters
boeingThe company is dealing with an incident in which one of its 737 Max 9 planes suffered an in-flight fuselage panel rupture, leading to a drop in aircraft orders and deliveries in January. The accident cast a shadow on the company’s strong performance in 2023.
The airline delivered 27 aircraft last month, compared to 67 in December, the lowest number since September. The company sold three of its Boeing 737 Max planes, but also experienced three cancellations.
Deliveries were broadly in line with some analysts’ expectations. The three total orders come after a large order in December when Boeing sold 371 aircraft.
Boeing rival Airbus took delivery of 30 planes in January.
Boeing Co. executives are scrambling to convince airline customers, investors and regulators to find more reliable footing after the Jan. 5 explosion of a door plug. alaska airlines Shortly after departing from Portland, Oregon, the aircraft flew at an altitude of 16,000 feet. No one was seriously injured on Flight 1282, but violent forces ripped off the headrests, exposing passengers to a gaping hole in row 26.
Bolts holding an unused exit door panel in place appeared to be missing from the fuselage and had been removed and returned at Boeing’s 737 Max factory in Renton, Washington, the National Transportation Safety Board said on February 6. This was announced in a preliminary report on the same day.
Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun has vowed to review manufacturing processes at Boeing facilities. The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration said it would halt planned production increases “until Boeing is satisfied that the quality control issues identified during this process have been resolved.”
“I’m glad they called for a pause, because it’s a good excuse to take our time and do it right,” Calhoun said on a Jan. 31 earnings call.
Boeing said earlier this month that about 50 undelivered Max planes would have to be reworked due to erroneously drilled holes, a new production defect that could delay deliveries. be.
The FAA has been auditing Boeing’s production, and the agency’s administrator, Mike Whitaker, told CNBC last month that he intended to have Boeing “on the ground” to directly inspect operations there. The audit will include approximately 20 inspectors located at the Renton plant and in Wichita, Kansas. Spirit Aero Systems Build Max’s body.
Boeing now has to periodically shut down its production lines, and Chief Financial Officer Brian West said at Tuesday’s TD Cowen Investor Conference that the company expects to reduce monthly production of 38 Max planes in the second half of this year. He said he expects stable production at the same pace.
“We’re doing it to get the benefit of an audit, to get the benefit of our own testing protocols, and that just slows down the line,” West said.
FAA Administrator Whitaker is scheduled to visit the Renton plant this week.
Boeing’s deliveries to Chinese customers in January included three Max planes, the first in nearly four years.
