The head of Boeing's commercial aircraft division apologized in a message to employees on Friday evening for the American manufacturer's recent setbacks at a time when 737 MAX 9s are taking to the air again.
• Also read: Alaska Airlines has returned a Boeing 737 MAX 9 to service with a flight from Seattle to San Diego
• Also read: Alaska Airlines estimates the cost of suspending the Boeing MAX 9 at $150 million
• Also read: Boeing boss acknowledges 'seriousness' of Alaska Airlines 737 incident
“We truly regret the significant disruption and frustration to our customers,” Stan Deal said in a message to employees sent to the press by Boeing.
A few hours earlier, an Alaska Airlines 737 MAX 9 completed its first commercial flight since the flight suspension decided by the American Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) following the incident on January 5th.
On that day, a blocked cabin door on an Alaska Airlines plane came loose during the flight.
Since the FAA's decision to suspend flights, “our goal has been to help our customers resume their activities,” the airline industry chief said in his message to his teams.
From now on, “our long-term goal is to improve quality to regain the trust of our customers, our regulators and the people who fly,” Stan Deal added. “Frankly, we disappointed them, we let them down,” he even explained before apologizing.
According to the deal, about 10,000 Boeing employees stopped work on the 737 MAX production line near Seattle on Thursday to “refocus on safety and discuss ways to improve our practices.”
The recent incident on the Alaska Airlines flight, following other production problems in recent months, has prompted the FAA and the aircraft manufacturer itself to analyze its quality control process, and an independent person has been hired to lead an audit.