As the aviation industry struggles to cope with repercussions of the Alaska Airlines 737 MAX 9 door plug blowout of January 5, 2024, heads of several airlines have requested a meeting with members of the Boeing board.
According to the Wall Street Journal, which spoke with people familiar with the matter, the airline CEOs are frustrated with production problems at Boeing resulting from the planemaker having to address safety issues at its facilities in the wake of the Alaska incident.
Boeing is under pressure to deliver a comprehensive action plan for improving safety going forward to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), following a six-week audit of its factory during which multiple failures were discovered.
In response to calls from the airline chiefs to discuss getting the situation back on track, Boeing has agreed to send board members to meet with them next week.
The CEO of Boeing, David Calhoun, will not be in attendance, but Boeing told the Wall Street Journal that he fully supports the move.
“We’ve been actively focused on listening to our customers at all levels of our company,” a Boeing official told the Wall Street Journal.
Alaska Airlines, Southwest Airlines, American Airlines and United Airlines are all waiting on deliveries of jets that are now facing delays.
Boeing delivered around 40 737 MAXs a month at the end of 2023, but this figure is expected to fall to nearer 15 in the near future.
FBI reach out to Alaska 737-9 ‘victims’
In other developments, the Seattle Times has reported that the FBI has contacted passengers who were on board the Alaska Airlines aircraft involved in January’s incident.
The FBI, which is carrying out the recently announced Department of Justice criminal investigation of Boeing, has advised passengers by letter that they may be a “possible victim of a crime”.
The Seattle Times was shown a copy of the FBI letter dated March 19, 2024.
“As a Victim Specialist with the Seattle Division, I’m contacting you because we have identified you as a possible victim of a crime. This case is currently under investigation by the FBI. A criminal investigation can be a lengthy undertaking, and for several reasons, we cannot tell you about its progress at this time,” the letter reads.
The letter also gives passengers a link to register for updates on the case and an email address to contact the FBI.
Alaska Airlines flight 1282 suffered a rapid decompression when a left mid-cabin door plug separated from the aircraft at 16,000 feet on January 5, 2024.