Problems on 737 Max Planes Hit Boeing’s Reputation Again

Photo source: Boeing

Plane manufacturer Boeing is once again facing a new problem with its 737 Max jets after it was revealed that two holes may not have been drilled according to specifications during production.

The new glitch comes after an incident in January when an exit panel blew out from an Alaska Airlines 737 Max-9 plane in flight at an altitude of 16,000 feet leading to rapid decompression of the cabin and an emergency landing in Portland, Oregon. No injuries or fatalities were reported.

Now the company will have to rework some 50 planes after an employee at supplier Spirit AeroSystems found that holes had incorrectly been drilled in at least 22 fuselages out of 47 inspected up to that point.

The issue came to light in a memo sent to Boeing employees over the weekend by President and CEO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes, Stan Deal. “While this potential condition is not an immediate flight safety issue and all 737’s can continue operating safely, we currently believe we will have to perform rework on about 50 undelivered airplanes,” it said.

Boeing Commercial Airplanes President and CEO Stan Deal.

Referring to the new Alaska Airlines incident, Boeing CEO David Calhoun had said that “whatever conclusions are reached, Boeing is accountable for what happened. Whatever the specific cause of the accident might turn out to be, an event like this simply must not happen on an airplane that leaves one of our factories”.

Boeing had been making efforts to boost production of the 737 Max after the model had been grounded for 20 months following two fatal crashes in October 2018 and in March 2019 that killed a total of 346 people as a result of a design flaw. Following the incidents, in January 2021, the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) gave the Boeing 737 MAX the green light to return to service (in a modified version) in Europe.