Reuters reports, “The Federal Aviation Administration’s tougher oversight of Boeing will continue indefinitely, the agency’s outgoing head said on Friday, nearly a year after a door panel missing four key bolts flew off a new Alaska Airlines 737 MAX 9 in mid-air. The Jan. 5, 2024 incident prompted FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker to cap production at 38 737 MAX planes per month and temporarily ground 170 airplanes. The incident exposed serious safety issues at the U.S. planemaker and contributed to the departure of its then-CEO Dave Calhoun.”
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Tag: 737 MAX
FAA Says Agency Must Ensure Adequate Safety Measures Before 737 Max Production Can Expand
Reuters reports, “The head of the Federal Aviation Administration said Tuesday the agency must ensure the planemaker’s safety processes are adequate before it will lift its 737 MAX production cap. FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker said he raised the issue with Boeing’s new chief executive Kelly Ortberg and wants to ensure the planemaker follows through on its quality turnaround plan.”
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Boeing Says Added Inspections Are Raising 737 Max Production Quality
The New York Times reports, “Boeing says it has achieved significant quality improvements in the production of the 737 Max since one of the planes lost a panel in a harrowing flight in January.”
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Elysian Aircraft Aims to Launch Electric Plane by 2033
Aerospace America reports Elysian Aircraft, a Netherlands-based company, is planning to launch a “90-passenger, prop-driven electric plane that would have a range of 800 kilometers” by 2033. The design includes a “fossil fuel turbogenerator in its tail cone to recharge the batteries and power the motors driving the propellers in the event a plane was diverted or delayed.” The key feature is an “unusually wide wingspan” of 43 meters, allowing the batteries to be placed inside the wings, reducing fuselage weight.
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Boeing Revises Guidance for 737 Max Inspections
The New York Times reports, “Federal regulators on Tuesday said Boeing was revising its instructions for how airlines should inspect its 737 Max 9, delaying the manufacturer’s effort to get the jet back in the air after a panel in one of the planes blew out during a flight late last week.” The Federal Aviation Administration said the planemaker “would change the instructions it had released on Monday based on feedback, but the agency did not provide more details.” The FAA said, “Upon receiving the revised version of instructions from Boeing, the F.A.A. will conduct a thorough review. The safety of the flying public, not speed, will determine the timeline for returning the Boeing 737-9 Max to service.”
Full Story (New York Times – Subscription Publication)
Boeing Says 737 MAX Deliveries on Schedule
Aviation Week reported that The Boeing Company says it is “on track” to reach its projected 2023 delivery of 400-450 737 MAX aircraft, with company CFO Brian West saying that he “expects monthly delivery numbers to snap back quickly following the recent slowdown related to non-conforming parts.”
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Air India Order Includes 737 MAX, 787, and 777X Aircraft
Reuters reported that Air India “is close to a deal to order more than 200 Boeing jets including 190 narrowbody 737 MAX and 30 widebody 787s – part of an historic fleet shake-up roughly split with Boeing’s European rival Airbus, industry sources said on Friday.” The deal is “also expected to include an unspecified number of Boeing 777X long-range jets, they added.” Airbus is separately “moving towards a deal with Air India including at least 200 of its A320-family narrowbody jets as well as dozens of larger A350s, industry sources said.” Both The Boeing Company and Airbus declined to comment, but the orders split between the two major aircraft makers would reportedly cost tends of billions of dollars as the Tata Group-owned airline looks to create a renaissance for the carrier.
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Supply Disruptions Threaten Second Half for Aerospace Companies
Reuters reports that major aerospace companies “are sounding the alarm on their supply chains as shortages ranging from raw materials to castings or semiconductor chips pressure earnings and crimp the industry’s ability to capitalize on roaring travel demand.” Airbus “cut its full-year jet delivery forecast by 3% and slowed a planned increase in factory production, noting pressure on the engine sector.” The Boeing Company “cut estimates for 737 MAX deliveries this year and warned that supply-chain constraints had capped its ability to ramp up production despite ‘significant’ demand.”
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Boeing Pauses 737 MAX Production for 10 Days
The Wall Street Journal reported that The Boeing Company has paused 737 MAX production for about 10 days following supply-chain issues.
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Southwest, United Cut Thousands of Spring Flights
The Dallas Morning News reports that Southwest Airlines “and other airlines are cutting thousands of spring flights from schedules because of serious headwinds from high fuel prices, staffing challenges and other ongoing supply chain constraints.” The airline has already “axed 14,500 flights from its March through May schedule,” and “on Tuesday cited ‘continuing challenges with available staffing.’” The airline “also said business travel continues to suffer.” Also on Tuesday, “United said it was cutting its capacity for the rest of 2022,” while “Alaska Airlines and Las Vegas-based Allegiant said they were cutting flight schedules by about 5%.”
Full Story (Dallas Morning News)