Shares of commercial aircraft manufacturer Boeing experienced a significant drop on Monday following an incident involving an Alaska Airlines plane. During the flight, a part of the Boeing-made aircraft blew off mid-air only ten minutes after takeoff from Portland, Oregon. Fortunately, no physical injuries were reported, but this incident highlighted ongoing issues with Boeing’s 737 line.
As a result, both European regulators and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) temporarily grounded the Boeing 737 Max 9 aircraft on Sunday. In order to ensure the safety of these jets, thorough inspections will be conducted. However, it should be noted that most of the 737 planes do not have the same panel configuration that was involved in Friday’s incident.
In a positive development, investigators were able to locate the detached part in a backyard on Sunday. This discovery will play a crucial role in determining the cause of the incident and preventing similar occurrences in the future.
Given this disconcerting news, Boeing shares witnessed a sharp decline of 8.1% during premarket trading. Meanwhile, Airbus, the European competitor of Boeing, witnessed a slight increase of 1.4% in early trading in Paris. Other airlines were also affected, with Alaska Air stock dropping 5%, United Airlines down 2.9%, and Delta Air Lines falling 2%.
Unfortunately, this is not the first time that the Boeing 737 MAX model has encountered problems. Four years ago, this model was grounded worldwide for over a year following two fatal crashes that occurred within a span of five months. An investigation revealed that the crashes were caused by issues with the flight-control software.
In conclusion, this incident has had a detrimental impact on Boeing’s reputation and financial stability. The company will need to address these ongoing concerns to regain the trust of both airlines and passengers alike.
