‘Could lose billions more’: Boeing crisis gets worse and worse
Plane parts ripping off during flight, failed production audits and a whistleblower dead – industry giant Boeing is facing a reputational crisis.
Aviation giant Boeing has been unable to stay out of the news for all the wrong reasons.
Not only has the company taken a huge hit financially amid a series of dangerous events, but it has got the public asking whether it’s safe to fly — an awful concern to have about one of the world’s largest aircraft manufacturers.
The dominating story this week was a Latam Airlines flight from Sydney to Auckland, which plunged suddenly over the Tasman Sea, injuring 50 people.
The terrifying incident may have been caused by a flight attendant inadvertently flicking a switch on the pilot’s chair while serving a mid-flight meal, US aviation industry officials briefed on preliminary evidence from the investigation told The Wall Street Journal.
The publication reported Boeing had issued a memo to airlines operating its 787 jets, recommending that they check the cockpit seats for loose covers on the switches and instructing them how to cut power to the motorised pilot chairs if needed.
But the horror flight from Sydney was not the only disaster this month, and certainly not this year. It has been a particularly bad fortnight for United Airlines.
The external panel of a United Airlines plane broke off mid-flight in the US on Friday (local time) with pictures posted to social media showing the exposed belly of the Boeing 737-800 aircraft.
The week prior a United Airlines Boeing 737 Max went off the runway in Texas, rolling onto the grass, and a tyre fell off a United Airlines Boeing 777-200 bound for Japan shortly after takeoff from San Francisco. It smashed cars in the employee parking lot.
Another United Airlines flight taking off from Texas made an emergency landing after flames started shooting from one of the Boeing 737-900 aircraft’s engines.
According to the airline, the fire was caused by bubble wrap being sucked into the plane’s engine.
Other incidents this year have included United Airlines pilots on a Bahamas to New Jersey flight experiencing stuck rudder pedals during a landing rollout on a Boeing 737 Max 8 in February. The US National Transportation Safety Board is investigating.
But by far the biggest disaster for Boeing this year was a door plug being ripped off an Alaska Airlines plane flying over Oregon in January.
Shocking videos and photos showed a gaping hole in the side of the 737 Max 9 aircraft.
US officials ordered the temporary grounding of about 170 aircraft for safety inspections, and the near-catastrophic incident also prompted a six-week audit of Boeing’s 737 Max manufacturing processes by the US Federal Aviation Administration, which found multiple problems.
Adding to Boeing’s public relations crisis, this week also saw the death of a former Boeing worker who raised safety concerns about the company’s planes.
Former quality manager John Barnett, 62, had been giving evidence in a whistleblower lawsuit against the US aerospace giant before he was found dead on March 9 “from what appears to be a self-inflicted wound”.
How big is the problem?
Professor Doug Drury, who is head of aviation at CQ University, says there is a big question to ask: “Should the travelling public be concerned?” And the answer is both “yes and no”.
“The recent parade of events has certainly been dramatic — but not all of them can be blamed on Boeing,” Prof Drury wrote in The Conversation.
He pointed to incidents that were related to factors outside the manufacturer’s control, “like maintenance issues, potential foreign object debris, and possible human error”.
He assured air travel was still extremely safe and the issues with Boeing planes are expected to be corrected.
“The financial impact has been significant — so even a profit-driven company will demand change,” Prof Drury wrote.
An analysis by CNN Business executive editor David Goldman said while Boeing entered the year “with an already bruised reputation”, the company’s “nonstop streak of bad news” began when part of the Alaska Airlines plane blew off.
He said not only was it followed by congressional hearings, production and delivery delays, and multiple federal investigations, but also resulted in “a stock that has lost a quarter of its value this year, shaving more than $US40 billion ($A60.9 billion) off the company’s market valuation”.
Goldman warned Boeing could lose billions more dollars from the blowout.
The Boeing 737 Max aircraft has a troubled history.
Two planes – Ethiopian Airlines flight 302 and Indonesian carrier Lion Air flight 610 – crashed in October 2018 and March 2019, killing 346 people.
The jets were grounded until they were cleared to fly again in the US in 2020 and in the UK and EU in 2021.
It cost Boeing more than $US20 billion ($A30 billion), making it one of the most expensive corporate tragedies in history, according to CNN.
What is Boeing doing about all these issues?
Boeing directed employees to take “immediate actions” to improve operations in a message sent to employees on Tuesday, local time.
The guidance, from Boeing’s head of commercial aviation Stan Deal, comes after the audit by the US FAA – following the Alaska Airlines incident – found instances of noncompliance at the manufacturer.
“We have used your feedback, and those from our regulator and customers, to take immediate actions to strengthen our safety and quality,” Mr Deal said.
“These actions are central to a comprehensive plan we will soon deliver to the FAA,” he added, referring to the US regulator’s order earlier this month that Boeing come up with a framework to address quality control within 90 days.
According to Mr Deal, “the vast majority of our audit noncompliances involved not following our approved processes and procedures.”
To address the issues, management will set up additional training for relevant employees, establish weekly compliance checks and dedicate a portion of each shift to review procedures and check tools.
These new measures are in addition to the others put in place in recent weeks, including additional inspections.
Of the 89 production process audits conducted by the FAA, Boeing failed 33 of them, The New York Times reported, with 97 instances of noncompliance identified.
The concerns included one use of a hotel key card to check a door seal and the use of liquid dish soap as a mechanical lubricant, according to the NY Times.
Mr Deal’s letter also addressed the findings of an independent expert commission appointed by the FAA, which found shortcomings with Boeing’s safety standards – notably, that they may be too complex and cause confusion among employees.
“Our teams are working to simplify and streamline our processes and address the panel’s recommendations,” Mr Deal said, meanwhile calling on employees to implement certain changes immediately.
“Precisely follow every step of our manufacturing procedures and processes,” he urged.
“We can and should update procedures and processes, but until then, we must adhere to the existing ones.”
Employees should also “always be on the lookout for a potential safety hazard or quality escape,” Mr Deal added, encouraging them to use the company’s internal reporting system to flag concerns when necessary.
Boeing is still facing investigations from the FAA and the NTSB, while US media has reported the Justice Department has opened a criminal investigation.
– with AFP
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