Experts say the Boeing ‘pile on’ needs to look wider than the manufacturer

A picture that shocked the world and left plane passengers questioning everything has been cast in a new light.

The writing is on the wall for Boeing.

An Australian aviation expert has called out a major blind spot amid growing concern and criticism of the Boeing aircraft.

US aircraft manufacturer Boeing has faced mounting scrutiny for recent issues on its planes, including a January mid-flight blowout, a lost wheel and a terrifying nosedive that injured 50 people last month.

But an Australian aviation expert says while the aircraft manufacturer has some big questions to answer — including about how an airline door blew out mid-air in January — the “scrutiny” has become “overblown”.

Speaking on Channel 9’s Today Show, Jeff Thomas said while the spotlight is understandably on the embattled airline — there’s a reality the world is ignoring.

The door plug of an Alaska Airlines Flight blew out. It is one of several incidents to plague Boeing, but experts say the blame is not being fairly dished out. Picture: NTSB / AFP

Boeing is under intense scrutiny. Picture: Logan Cyrus / AFP.

“Yes [Boeing] they’ve got some question marks, particularly over that door blow out,” Mr Thomas said.

“Obviously the media scrutiny and the public scrutiny is very intense on Boeing. But the reality is — right now — there’s just as many incidents involving Airbus aircraft, as there are Boeing aircraft.

“So a lot of it is overblown. But yes … Boeing does have some questions to answer.”

While it may feel like Boeing’s incident report is mounting at an alarming rate, experts say the fears expressed by nervous passengers are understandable but largely unfounded.

As reported by The Seattle Times, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) suggests “the number of Boeing accidents and incidents involving passenger flights this year is in line with previous years going back at least a decade.”

Experts say not all blame should be on the aircraft manufacturer. Picture: Christine Schindler

Worldwide, the total accident rate in 2023 was one accident for every 1.26 million flights — the lowest rate in more than a decade, according to the trade group International Air Transportation Association.

And while some claim the “pile on” against Boeing is “overblown”, recent figures show that the concern is warranted.

In 2023, Boeing planes had the most safety incidents on scheduled passenger flights in the US, according to an NTSB reports.

In comparison, however, Airbus planes had more of these incidents recorded in 2021, however, Boeing has far more commercial airliners flying in the US than Airbus.

Boeing aircraft have been involved in a string of incidents, but experts say the carrier should be thrown under the spotlight. Picture: Handout / NTSB / AFP.

In an interview with The Seattle Times, founder and managing director of aviation intelligence firm Leeham.net, Scott Hamilton, said that while the spotlight typically lingers on Boeing — the world needs to look at the bigger picture.

“When a wheel comes off a Boeing aeroplane, that’s a United incident, not a Boeing incident,” he told the publication.

“When a windshield cracks, that happens whether it’s a Boeing plane or an Airbus plane.

“The problem is that people really don’t make that distinction between airlines and manufacturers.”

Regardless, passengers are nervous and confidence is clearly starting to wane.

Morning Consult carried out a survey on how public trust in the aircraft giant has changed with the new developments.

It found that between October and December of last year and January to February of 2024, net trust had dipped among respondents by 14 percentage points.

According to the research, “net trust is defined as the share of respondents who trust a brand minus the share who distrust a brand.”

Nicki Zink, an analyst at Morning Consult, noted that the biggest change was among business travellers, with a 26 percentage point difference between the two survey waves.

A survey by Morning Consult showed the trust in Boeing has dipped from 2023 to 2024 after growing focus on the aircraft’s safety incidents.

Since the 1990s, American manufacturer Boeing and its European competitor Airbus have dominated the market for large passenger jets.

Professor Doug Drury, who is the Head of Aviation at CQUniversity Australia, said in a recent article published on The Conversation, that while the “recent parade” of dramatic events has circled around Boeing, passengers need not ignore the carrier’s responsibility as well.

A growing amount of experts claim that not all of the incidents can be blamed on Boeing. Picture: STEPHEN BRASHEAR / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP.

“Not all of [the incidents] can be blamed on Boeing,” Prof. Drury wrote.

“Five incidents occurred on aircraft owned and operated by United Airlines and were related to factors outside the manufacturer’s control, like maintenance issues, potential foreign object debris, and possible human error.

“[For example] … a United Airlines 777 flying from San Francisco to Japan lost a tyre on takeoff, a maintenance issue not related to Boeing.

“A United Airlines flight from Sydney to Los Angeles had to return to Sydney due to a ‘maintenance issue’ after a fluid was seen leaking from the aircraft on departure.”

But there is some merit in the spotlight, especially given significant “culture changes” reported at Boeing over the past two decades.

This week, bombshell claims made by a Boeing engineer involving alleged assembly defects that threaten the safety of hundreds of aircraft have been escalated and are now under investigation by US authorities.

Airbus is surging ahead of Boeing in terms of manufacture. Picture: Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images/AFP.

The whistleblower, Sam Salehpour, accused Boeing of putting profit over safety and subsequently retaliated against Mr Salehpour by “involuntarily” transferring him to the 777 program.

“Rather than heeding his warnings, Boeing prioritised getting the planes to market as quickly as possible, despite the known, well-substantiated issues Mr. Salehpour raised,” said lawyers Debra Katz and Lisa Banks, who pointed to “critical defects” on nearly 1,500 Boeing planes.

The aircraft manufacturer pushed back on the accusation, saying it is “fully confident” in the Dreamliner and denying charges it retaliated against the whistleblower.

In additional reports, former staff have also raised concerns over tight production schedules, which increased the pressure on employees to finish the aircraft.

According to Prof. Drury, “this caused many engineers to question the process” and, as a result, the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to fine Boeing for lapses in quality oversight after tools and debris were found on aircraft being inspected.

A growing number of former employees claim Boeing “prioritised getting the planes to market as quickly as possible”. Picture: Tomohiro Ohsumi/Getty Images.

Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury announced in January that it had delivered more aircraft and secured more orders than Boeing in 2023. Picture: Odd ANDERSEN / AFP.

As a result of the ongoing headlines and dip in consumer confidence, Airbus has again been cemented as the world’s biggest plane maker for the fifth straight year in 2024 based on deliveries.

The European aircraft manufacturer announced in January that it had delivered more aircraft and secured more orders than Boeing in 2023.

Boeing acknowledged that while reporting more aircraft deliveries and orders in 2023 than it had the year before, the pace was slower than that of Airbus.

Richard Aboulafia, the managing director of AeroDynamic Advisory in Washington, D.C, told the New York Times that the writing was on the wall for Boeing — especially with airlines globally engaging in massive expansions of their fleets to meet the postpandemic demands for global air travel

“What used to be a duopoly has become two-thirds Airbus, one-third Boeing,” he said.

“A lot of people, whether investors, financiers or customers, are looking at Airbus and seeing a company run by competent people,” he said.

“The contrast with Boeing is fairly profound.”