The airlines that use Boeing's 737 Max are loosening their tongues. Emirates and Ryanair executives point to quality control problems at the American plane maker.
The major airlines have not spared Boeing since the fall of the Alaska Airlines 737 Max 9, whose “door stop” was torn off in flight. In an interview with Bloomberg, Emirates President Tim Clarks claims that Boeing “has a long history of quality control issues.”
The head of the Emirati airline is apparently alluding to previous technical problems with Boeing aircraft. 346 people died in two accidents with the 737 MAX 8. The first occurred in October 2018 with a device that the Indonesian company Lion Ai had put into operation less than three years ago. The second fatal crash occurred in March 2019 on an Ethiopian Airlines plane.
Emirates does not operate the 737, but has 130 777 models and hundreds more on order. However, this model has problems with the engines. In 2021, one of these aircraft lost debris after an engine failure while flying over Colorado. After this incident, 69 aircraft equipped with this engine were grounded.
Pressure in the supply chain
Michael O'Leary, head of Ryanair, is no less harsh on the American aircraft manufacturer in the Financial Times. His company operates several versions of the 737 Max, but he believes quality problems affect not only Boeing but also Airbus.
“The real challenge for Airbus and Boeing is that they are both behind schedule with their plans to increase monthly production. A large part of this is due to supply chain pressures. “You have to significantly improve quality control,” estimates the President of Ryanair.
Michael O'Leary even expects consequences for ticket prices for travel in Europe. “The capacity is severely overloaded. Airfares, especially in the summer peak season, will be higher because there will be less capacity on short routes in Europe,” the managing director told the Financial Times.
A subcontractor was selected
Since the Alaska Airlines incident, investigations into the 747 MAX 9 continue on Tuesday. The US Civil Aviation Administration (FAA) has requested inspections for 171 Boeing 737 MAX 9s and is awaiting these inspections.
United Airlines, which operates the world's largest fleet of 737 MAX 9s with 79 planes, discovered “screws that needed to be tightened” during inspections on the boarded doors of its 737 MAX 9s, which were torn off during an Alaska flight on Friday. Airline flight in the United States.
Alaska Airlines also announced that it had discovered “loose equipment” on some of its aircraft of this type following preliminary inspections.
All eyes are now on Spirit Aerosystems, a Boeing subcontractor that produces the element in question. This company is one of the world's largest manufacturers of aircraft structures: fuselages, wings, nacelles, etc. It is an important supplier to Boeing, as it also produces essential elements of the Boeing 737 and 787.