WASHINGTON (AP) — Machinists are on strike. Another safety concern involves its troubled best-selling passenger jets. Stock prices plummeted.
2024 is already a frustrating year for American aerospace giant Boeing. But on Sunday, one of the company’s jets crashed in South Korea, killing all but two of the 181 passengers on board, capping a particularly unfortunate year for Boeing.
The cause of the crash remains under investigation, and aviation experts were quick to distinguish Sunday’s incident from previous safety issues at the company.
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Alan Price, Delta’s former chief pilot and now a consultant, said it would be inappropriate to link Sunday’s incident to two fatal crashes involving Boeing 737 Max jets in 2018 and 2019. A 737 Max aircraft was blown up while in flight, raising more questions about the plane.
Price noted that the Boeing 737-800 that crashed in South Korea was “a proven aircraft. “It’s different from the Max… it’s a very safe aircraft. “
For decades, Boeing has maintained its status as one of America’s manufacturing giants. But recurring troubles over the past year have taken their toll. The company’s stock price fell by more than 30% in 2024.
The company’s safety reputation has been particularly affected by the 737 Max crashes, which occurred less than five months apart off the coast of Indonesia and Ethiopia in 2018 and 2019 and killed a total of 346 people. Over the next five years, Boeing lost more than $23 billion. It already lags behind European rival Airbus in sales and deliveries of new planes.
Last fall, 33,000 Boeing mechanics went on strike, paralyzing production of the company’s best-selling 737 Max, 777 passenger jets and 767 freighters. The strike lasted seven weeks until members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers agreed to a proposal that included a 38% pay increase over four years.
In January, a door jam blew off on an Alaska Airlines 737 Max flight. Federal regulators responded by imposing restrictions on the production of Boeing planes, which they said would remain in place until they were confident the company’s production was safe.
In July, Boeing agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy to defraud the Federal Aviation Administration, the regulator that approved the 737 Max aircraft. According to Boeing’s incomplete revelations, the FAA approved minimal computer-based training instead of more intensive flight simulator training. Simulator training will increase the cost for airlines to operate the Max and could prompt some airlines to buy planes from Airbus instead. (Prosecutors have said they lack evidence that Boeing’s deception played a role in the crashes.)
But the plea deal was blocked this month by Texas federal judge Reed O’Connor, who argued that the government and Boeing’s diversity, inclusion and equity, or DEI, policies could have resulted in race being a factor in selecting supervisory officials. Boeing complied with the agreement.
Boeing has been looking to change its culture. David Calhoun resigned as chief executive in August under intense pressure over safety concerns. Since January, 70,000 Boeing employees have attended meetings to discuss ways to improve safety.
