10-5-2024 (NEW YORK) In the high-stakes realm of commercial aviation, where the margin for error is razor-thin, Boeing has found itself at the epicentre of a maelstrom, grappling with a series of incidents that have cast a pall over its once-venerated reputation. From the harrowing near-catastrophe involving an Alaska Airlines jet to the recent mishaps in far-flung locales like Turkey and Senegal, the American plane maker’s tribulations have become the subject of intense scrutiny, prompting industry experts to delve deeper into the underlying causes and question the company’s commitment to safety.
The events that have unfolded in recent months read like a litany of woes: On January 5th, a Boeing 737 MAX 9 operated by Alaska Airlines was forced to make an emergency landing after a fuselage panel blew out, narrowly avoiding a calamity that safety officials have dubbed “potentially catastrophic.” In the wake of this incident, United Airlines and Southwest Airlines have also grappled with their own share of Boeing-related issues, from engine fires to harrowing landings where the front landing gear failed to deploy.
Most recently, on May 9th, a Boeing 737-300 careened off a runway in Senegal, leaving 11 individuals injured, four of them critically. Just a day prior, a Boeing 767 cargo plane belonging to FedEx made a disturbingly ungainly landing in Istanbul, its nose slamming into the tarmac as its front landing gear stubbornly refused to extend.
Such a confluence of incidents, occurring in rapid succession, is nothing short of “pretty rare” in the annals of air travel, according to aviation expert Bertrand Vilmer. He describes the myriad “abnormal” problems as reflecting “an alignment of unfavourable planets” – a celestial metaphor that aptly captures the sense of misfortune and misalignment that seems to have enveloped Boeing.
In the pursuit of answers, aviation experts typically turn to three potential explanations for such anomalies. The first, and perhaps most insidious, is the spectre of a design defect – a flaw so deeply embedded in the very blueprint of an aircraft that it can lead to catastrophic consequences. This was the case with the two fatal crashes involving Boeing’s 737 MAX jets in 2018 and 2019, where a defective flight stabilisation system proved to be a deadly oversight.
While the jury is still out on whether design flaws have played a role in the recent incidents, some aviation watchers have pointed to a production defect as the likely culprit behind the Alaska Airlines mishap. A preliminary report by the National Transportation Safety Board revealed a startling detail: four bolts meant to secure the panel that blew off were inexplicably missing, a lapse that could have dire consequences for a plane that had only been delivered to the airline a mere three months prior.
The third potential cause, and one that lies squarely in the realm of the airlines themselves, is the issue of insufficient maintenance. While Boeing may be responsible for the design and production of its aircraft, the onus of ensuring their continued airworthiness falls upon the carriers once the planes are delivered and enter service.
“Once the aircraft is delivered, Boeing has nothing to do with it anymore” in relation to maintenance, remarks Richard Aboulafia of AeroDynamic Advisory, underscoring the delicate balance of responsibility that exists between manufacturer and operator.
Amidst the tumult and the finger-pointing, however, it would be remiss to overlook the broader context: aviation, for all its complexities and inherent risks, remains one of the safest modes of transportation ever devised. Aboulafia himself notes that “we haven’t had a single casualty in the entire US airline industry in way over a decade, despite millions of people flown” – a remarkable feat that speaks to the industry’s unwavering commitment to safety.
He goes on to describe modern flying as “the safest form of transport ever created by people,” drawing a stark contrast with the perils of everyday road travel, where “hundreds of people get killed on the roads” with frightening regularity.
Yet, even as experts laud the industry’s overall safety record, they cannot ignore the mounting concerns surrounding Boeing’s recent travails. The company’s European rival, Airbus, has not been entirely immune to its own share of difficulties – from the need to inspect hundreds of planes for microscopic “contamination” in their Pratt & Whitney engines to a public dispute with Qatar Airways over the degradation of exterior plane surfaces.
However, as a research note from equity firm Bernstein astutely observes, “Every incident that has occurred on Boeing airplanes this year has made headlines, suggesting that Boeing airplanes are unsafe.” The reality, they contend, is that “the number of incidents in the US on Airbus and Boeing airplanes so far this year is proportional to the number of airplanes in the fleets of US carriers.”
Indeed, with the US commercial fleet comprising approximately 4,800 planes, of which roughly 60% are Boeing aircraft, according to aviation analytics firm Cirium, the spotlight on Boeing’s woes could be viewed as a byproduct of its sheer market dominance.
Yet, this perspective does little to assuage the mounting concerns over the company’s commitment to safety. The questions linger: Has Boeing’s pursuit of profits and market share come at the expense of rigorous quality control? Have the company’s vaunted production lines become a victim of their own success, struggling to keep pace with the insatiable demand for new aircraft? Or, perhaps more troubling still, has the once-vaunted culture of safety and meticulous attention to detail that defined Boeing’s storied legacy begun to fray at the seams?
These are not mere rhetorical queries; they strike at the very heart of an industry where trust and confidence are the cornerstones upon which passenger faith is built. For Boeing, the path forward is clear: it must redouble its efforts to restore its reputation, leaving no stone unturned in its quest to identify and rectify any potential weaknesses in its design, production, or quality assurance processes.
The stakes could not be higher, for in an industry where even the slightest misstep can have catastrophic consequences, the margin for error is razor-thin. Boeing must rise to the challenge, not merely for the sake of its bottom line, but for the millions of travellers who place their lives in the hands of its engineering prowess with every takeoff and landing.
In the turbulent skies that lie ahead, Boeing’s reckoning with safety concerns will be a defining moment – a crucible in which the company’s commitment to excellence and unwavering dedication to passenger safety will be put to the ultimate test. The world watches with bated breath, hoping that this esteemed American institution will emerge from the storm as a beacon of reassurance, a reminder that in the realm of commercial aviation, safety must always take precedence over all else.
