Status: 04/14/2023 08:30 a.m
Airplane manufacturer Boeing has had to halt deliveries of some 737 Max jets due to manufacturing defects. It is not the first time that the series has caused problems for the group.
The US aviation group Boeing has identified a new problem with its medium-haul jet 737 MAX. The company announced during the night that deliveries would have to be curtailed due to manufacturing defects and necessary inspections. The shortcomings were noticed by the important supplier Spirit AeroSystems, which manufactures the fuselages of many of the medium-haul jets.
“Significant number” of aircraft affected
According to Boeing, it is not an acute safety risk: the problem, which affects some of the 737 MAX models, does not pose a flight safety problem. In-service aircraft can continue to be used. However, the problem affects a “significant number” of machines that have not yet been handed over to customers and are still in production, the Airbus competitor said. The US Air Traffic Control Authority FAA has been informed.
Investors react nervously to the new bad news from Boeing, as the 737 MAX series is Boeing’s most popular model series. Papers from the aircraft manufacturer plummeted 5.3 percent in after-hours trading. Shares of Spirit AeroSystems even collapsed by 11.8 percent.
Boeing was about to ramp up production
The news comes at an inopportune time for the aircraft manufacturer, as it falls right in the middle of the planned expansion of production. According to information from the Reuters news agency, Boeing intends to ramp up production again – from 31 new aircraft per month to 42 monthly units by early 2024. Just a year later, in January 2025, the Airbus competitor wants to return to the pre-crisis rate of 52 machines.
Two crashes and a billion fine
It’s not the first time that the 737 MAX has caused problems for Boeing. The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) only stopped deliveries of certain 737 MAX and 787 at the beginning of March. According to media reports, Boeing is said to be confronted with a major software problem. In 2018 and 2019, two tragic Boeing 737 MAX crashes killed a total of 346 people.
The company was fined more than $2.5 billion in early 2021 to settle criminal cases over fraud and conspiracy allegations related to the scandal. An investigative committee of the US Congress had previously come to the conclusion that a “culture of secrecy” prevailed at Boeing.
737 Max has been flying again for two and a half years
It was only in November 2020, after more than a year and a half, that the FAA gave the green light again and lifted the ban on the 737 Max. The crisis in the US group surrounding the 737 Max debacle actually seemed to be largely over, but the new problems surrounding the medium-haul jet are likely to put a strain on the already very tense relationship between Boeing and the US aviation regulator.