Summary
- Boeing’s board to fulfill with airline CEOs without CEO Calhoun present amid industry concerns.
- US carriers like Southwest and United facing issues with Boeing aircraft, impacting operations.
- Boeing facing pressure from international customers like Copa Airlines in search of compensation.
Boeing’s board of directors has apparently agreed to fulfill with major airline CEOs without the presence of its CEO, David Calhoun, as reported by Fox News and the Wall Street Journal earlier today. The meeting could be the newest confrontation between business executives and aviation industry leaders that Boeing has faced after the failure of a door plug on the now infamous January fifth Alaska Airlines 1282 flight.
It’s unclear which airlines might be involved within the meeting. Boeing itself declined to comment. US Airlines represents among the largest customers of Boeing aircraft, with American Airlines, United Airlines, and Delta Air Lines ranked as the highest 3 largest airlines on this planet for his or her fleet size.
Months of pain for US carriers
Beyond the massive 3 American carriers, Southwest Airlines, which is the 4th biggest airline on this planet by its fleet size, has adjusted its revenue projections and limited the expansion of its flight schedule on account of problems with the American plane manufacturer.
United Airlines, for its part, has suffered quite a few high-profile issues with a few of its Boeing-manufactured aircraft. Where these maintenance issues have been normal for airline operations, coverage of those events has increased. The airline sighted delays with Boeing’s 737 MAX10, and other problems with Boeing aircraft when the airline recently suspended pilot hiring.
Photo: Angel DiBilio | Shutterstock
The meeting could happen as early as next week. The meeting follows David Calhoun’s visit to the US Capital to debate privately with members of US Congress and their staff as an alternative choice to a proper meeting. Calhoun and leaders with Boeing had also met with leadership of the Federal Aviation Administration each on the regulator’s DC headquarters and at Boeing facilities in Seattle, Washington.
All of those meetings took place because the plane maker drew increased government criticism, with the Chairwoman of the NTSB going to the press to say that Boeing was stonewalling its investigation of Alaska Airlines flight 1282.
International problems
Beyond the domestic troubles for the US plane manufacturer, it has also faced increased pressure from its International customers. Copa Airlines, the most important 737 MAX operator in Latin America, grounded 20% of its day by day flight schedule while grounding the 737 MAX 9 aircraft type. The airline said it could seek compensation from Boeing to compensate for its losses.
More recently, Ryanair’s famously eccentric CEO said that he would love the airline to have an even bigger variety of Airbus aircraft. Ryanair, like Southwest and Copa Airlines, has maintained a 737-only fleet.
Boeing’s airline pressure is not limited to the 737 MAX 9. The manufacturer has also faced delays across the certification of its 737 MAX 10 and is expecting increased delays on the certification of its delayed 777X program. These delays in certification are paired with increasingly poor deliveries, because the plane maker has increasingly slowed the production schedule, and regulators have suggested that it had sacrificed safety to speed up in the primary place.
Tim Clark, the president of Emirates, a major customer of the 777X, said that the widebody program could possibly be delayed into 2026. While words from Tim Clark have at all times generated headlines within the airline industry, the 777X itself was delayed largely in 2022, when Boeing had halted production in response to the unique 737 MAX 8 crisis. The aircraft was originally expected to be introduced in 2020.