Airlines sharpen Boeing criticism, expect aircraft delivery delays

26.01.2024 - 15:41 / thepointsguy.com / Robert Isom / Airlines

Executives of several major U.S. airlines are pledging to hold Boeing accountable in the wake of this month's inflight emergency, which left the cabin of an Alaska Airlines 737 MAX 9 aircraft exposed after an explosive blowout of an emergency exit-size door plug.

Additionally, the aftermath of the incident is raising questions about whether Boeing — in the face of new Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) scrutiny — will be able to produce new jets at the pace airlines had hoped.

Three of the four largest U.S. carriers held their 2023 fourth-quarter earnings calls Thursday and, one by one, each echoed the oft-repeated calls of recent weeks for the aircraft manufacturer to improve its quality control measures.

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"Boeing needs to get their act together," American Airlines CEO Robert Isom told analysts on Thursday's conference call. "The issues they've been dealing with over the recent period of time, but also going back a number of years now, is unacceptable."

Isom's comments seemingly were a nod to both the recent incident on an Alaska MAX 9 aircraft and the two overseas crashes of 737 MAX jets in 2018 and 2019; though the two crashes were caused by factors unrelated to the Jan. 5 incident, the most recent scare has re-ignited criticism of Boeing from regulators, lawmakers and the company's airline customers.

Speaking to analysts Thursday, Alaska CEO Ben Minicucci spoke of "tough, candid conversations" with the manufacturer.

"Flight 1282 should never have happened," Minicucci told analysts Thursday during the airline's first earnings call since the incident on board one of its planes. "It's not acceptable what happened. We're going to hold [Boeing] accountable, and we're going to raise the bar on quality."

The Seattle-based carrier is one of two U.S. airlines to operate the MAX 9, with 65 in its fleet. United is the other, with 79 such jets.

With the aircraft grounded by the FAA in the wake of the blowout, Alaska saw around a third of its planned passenger capacity affected this month, company executives reported Thursday.

Ultimately, the airline was able to re-book more than half of its would-be MAX 9 passengers on new Alaska flights — including about 150 previously-unplanned flights operated by its regional subsidiary, Horizon Air.

Yet, the company expects it still will take about a $150 million hit from the entire saga — a bill Alaska seems poised to ask Boeing to foot.

"We'll work on the accountability of Boeing," Minicucci said. "The accountability is essentially raising the quality standards at the factory, as well as making us whole."

Though the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and the FAA are far