Tag: United Airlines

Boeing reported another problem with fuselages on its 737 jets that might delay deliveries of about 50 aircraft in the latest quality gaffe to plague the manufacturer.

Boeing Commercial Airplanes CEO Stan Deal said in a letter to Boeing staff seen by CBS News Monday that a worker at its supplier discovered mis-drilled holes in fuselages. Spirit AeroSystems, based in Wichita, Kansas, makes a large part of the fuselages on Boeing Max jets.

“While this potential condition is not an immediate safety issue and all 737s can continue operating safely, we currently believe we will have to perform rework on about 50 undelivered planes,” Deal said in the letter to employees shared with the media.

“While this issue could delay some near-term 737 deliveries, this is the only course of action given our commitment to deliver perfect airplanes every time,” he added. “The days we are setting aside in the 737 program will allow time for our teams to complete the inspections and, if needed, perform the necessary rework.”

The problem was discovered by an employee of the supplier of the fuselages who notified his manager that two holes might have not been drilled according to specifications, Deal said.

Joe Buccino, a Spirit AeroSystems spokesperson, told CBS News, “We are aware of the non-conformance issue. Once we’ve determined the appropriate solution, we will implement repairs. We are in close communication with Boeing on this matter.”  

Flying on a Boeing 737 Max 9? Here’s what to know.

Both Boeing and Spirit AeroSystems are facing intense scrutiny over the quality of their work after an Alaska Airlines 737 Max 9 was forced to make an emergency landing on Jan. 5 when a panel called a door plug blew out of the side of the plane shortly after takeoff from Portland, Oregon.

The NTSB is investigating the accident, while the Federal Aviation Administration investigates whether Boeing and its suppliers followed quality-control procedures.

Alaska Airlines and United Airlines, the only other U.S. airline flying the Max 9, reported finding loose hardware in door plugs of other planes they inspected after the accident. The FAA grounded all Max 9s in the U.S. the day after the blowout. Two weeks later, the agency approved the inspection and maintenance process to return the planes to flying.

Alaska Airlines and United Airlines have begun returning some to service.

Boeing, based in Renton, Washington, said last week it was withdrawing a request for a safety exemption needed to certify a new, smaller model of the 737 Max airliner. Boeing asked federal regulators late last year to allow delivery of its 737 Max 7 airliner to customers even though it does not meet a safety standard designed to prevent part of the engine housing from overheating and breaking off during flight.

The manufacturer of the door plug that was blown out in mid-air during a Alaska Airlines flight on Friday was the focus of a class-action lawsuit filed less than a month earlier, with the complaint alleging that Spirit AeroSystems had experienced “sustained quality failures” in its products. 

The complaint, initially filed in federal court in May and amended in December, was filed on behalf of investors in Spirit AeroSystems, which was originally a manufacturing unit of Boeing until it was spun off in 2005 (The company has no relationship with Spirit Airlines.) According to the suit, Spirit relies heavily on Boeing for orders and manufactures much of the aviation giant’s jet fuselages. 

The lawsuit was earlier reported by the investigative publication The Lever.

The midair incident involved a door plug, panels designed to fit into doors that typically aren’t needed on an aircraft, transforming them into windows. One of these plugs was sucked out of a Boeing 737 Max 9 flown by Alaska Airlines just minutes after the plane departed Oregon’s Portland International Airport on its way to Ontario, California. 

Alaska and United Airlines — the only two U.S. carriers to fly the Boeing 737 Max 9 — have since said they have found loose bolts inside several other door plugs on the jets, which the Federal Aviation Administration has grounded.

The lawsuit is noteworthy because of its allegations of manufacturing problems, including a complaint from one Spirit employee who alleged an “excessive amount of defects” in an email to one of the company’s executives. While none of the issues flagged in the lawsuit specifically involve door plugs, the claim alleges that Spirit’s “quality failures were so severe and persistent that Boeing even placed Spirit on probation for multiple years.”

In a statement emailed to CBS MoneyWatch on Wednesday, Spirit said it “strongly disagrees with the assertions made by plaintiffs in the amended complaint and intends to vigorously defend against the claims. Spirit will not comment further as to the pending litigation.”

Boeing declined to comment. “We are committed to ensuring every Boeing airplane meets design specifications and the highest safety and quality standards,” the company said Monday in a statement about the Alaska Airlines incident.

Alleged quality problems: Missing fasteners and debris

The lawsuit alleges that Spirit’s problems were “widespread,” including “the routine presence of foreign object debris (‘FOD’) in Spirit products, missing fasteners, peeling paint, and poor skin quality.” 

“Such constant quality failures resulted in part from Spirit’s culture which prioritized production numbers and short-term financial outcomes over product quality,” the complaint claims. 

The complaint also alleged that Spirit experienced two specific manufacturing problems. The first involves a claim that Spirit had “mis-drilled holes on the 737 Max aft pressure bulkhead,” which is at the rear of the plane. The second alleged problem involves a “defect relating to the tail fin fittings on certain 737 MAX aircraft,” an issue that was flagged by Boeing in April.

Amid its manufacturing problems and a plunging stock price, Spirit overhauled its executive suite in recent months. The company in October named Pat Shanahan as its new CEO, replacing Thomas C. Gentile III, who is a defendant in the class-action suit and who had served as CEO since 2016.

The inflight blowout on an Alaska Airlines’ plane on Friday night is prompting scrutiny of the aircraft involved, the Boeing 737 Max 9. The incident comes after other safety issues have been linked to Boeing’s Max line of aircraft, heightening concerns about the jet’s safety. 

Here’s what we know so far. 

What is the Boeing 737 Max 9?

The Boeing 737 Max 9 is part of the aircraft manufacturer’s Max line of jets, introduced with the 737 Max 8 jets, which first took to the air in 2016, according to Airways Magazine. The Max line is designed to be more fuel efficient than earlier 737s, making them more economical for airlines to operate. 

The Max 9 jets, certified by the Federal Aviation Administration in 2018, can seat up to 220 passengers and have a range of 3,300 miles, according to Boeing.

Which U.S. airlines fly the Boeing 737 Max 9?

Currently, there are only two airlines in the U.S. that fly the Boeing 737 Max 9: Alaska Airlines and United Airlines. United is the biggest operator of Max 9s in the world. The two airlines together operate about two-thirds of the 215 Max 9 aircraft in service around the world, according to to aviation analytics firm Cirium.

Both Alaska and United have grounded their Max 9s as the Alaska accident is investigated, leading to hundreds of flight cancellations as of Monday afternoon.

What is the safety history of Boeing 737 Max jets?

The Boeing 737 Max line has a troubled history, with two fatal crashes of the Max 8 model within five months of each other, in 2018 and 2019. 

The first crash, in October 2018, involved a 737 Max 8 operated by Indonesia’s Lion Air that killed 189. The second incident was in March 2019, when an Ethiopian Airlines flight, also a 737 Max 8, crashed minutes after take off, killing 157 passengers. 

In response to those crashes, the FAA in 2019 grounded the 737 Max 8 and Max 9 while it investigated. Boeing changed an automated flight control system implicated in the crashes.

Last year, the FAA told pilots to limit use of an anti-ice system on the Max in dry conditions because of concern that inlets around the engines could overheat and break away, possibly striking the plane. And in December, Boeing told airlines to inspect the planes for a possible loose bolt in the rudder-control system.

However, those past issues are unrelated to Friday’s blowout, which is an exceedingly rare event in air travel.

What is the “door plug” that flew off in mid-flight?

The “door plug” that flew off during Friday’s flight was in use because the Alaska Airlines’ jet was configured to hold fewer than the maximum 220 passengers that could be packed onto a 737 Max 9. 

According to CBS News’ Kris Van Cleave, airlines that reconfigure jets frequently use panels that cover unneeded exit doors, essentially turning the unused exit door into another window. 

“For the most part they come with those exit doors plugged with this piece, and if you are a passenger you wouldn’t even know there is a door there,” Van Cleave told CBS News. “It would look like a normal window.”

The piece weighs about 63 pounds and is 48 inches tall and about two feet wide, Van Cleave noted.

Was anyone injured on the Alaska Airlines flight? 

None of the 171 passengers or six crew were seriously injured but the rapid loss of cabin pressure caused oxygen masks to drop from the ceiling. National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jennifer Homendy said the two seats next to the part that tore off were unoccupied.

The missing door plug has been found. Why is that important?

The missing door plug was found near Portland in the backyard of a schoolteacher, with the National Transportation Safety Board saying that the discovery could be a vital piece of evidence in the investigation into the cause of the blowout. 

“At the opposite end of the aisle is another door plug, so they will also be able to compare the door plug that was blown off wit the one that remains on the plane,” Mark Walker, a reporter with the New York Times, told CBS News. “They can compare if there were missing pieces, if they were damaged.”

Since the blowout, what issues have emerged about the door plugs?

United Airlines on Monday said that it has found “instances that appear to relate to installation issues in the door plug – for example, bolts that needed additional tightening” during its preliminary inspections on Saturday. 

Loose bolts and other parts were found on at least five aircraft, according to trade publication Air Current. Assembly, installation and quality control of the door plugs is the responsibility of Boeing and Spirit AeroSystems, which makes the door plug, the publication added. 

Spirit AeroSystems also worked on the installation of the door plug that suffered the blowout, according to Reuters. In a statement on Monday, Spirit AeroSystems said it is working with Boeing on the issue and that it would share more information “when appropriate.”

Were there signs of problems with the Boeing 737 Max 9?

The NTSB’s Homendy told reporters that pilots reported that the same plane experienced three pressurization warnings, from cockpit dashboard lights, between December 7 and January 4. At least one occurred in-flight.

Because of that, Alaska Airlines had decided that that particular jet shouldn’t fly long routes over water. 

“They even flagged the plane for additional maintenance. What maintenance never had a chance to be done because of the fateful flight on Friday,” he noted. 

For how long will the Boeing 737 Max 9s be grounded?

The length of time is unclear, but the FAA on Monday said the aircraft “will remain grounded until operators complete enhanced inspections which include both left and right cabin door exit plugs, door components and fasteners.”

It added, “Operators must also complete corrective action requirements based on findings from the inspections prior to bringing any aircraft back into service.”

—With reporting by the Associated Press.