United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby said Tuesday that the company is making a plan to move forward without Boeing after the manufacturing company grounded its MAX 9 planes, according to CNBC.
Boeing has suffered a series of problems in the last several weeks after multiple planes had major mechanical and structural errors, forcing the company to ground all Max 9 aircraft with door plugs. Kirby told CNBC that the decision to ground the aircraft was the “straw that broke the camel’s back” for United. (RELATED: Passengers Sue Boeing After Inflight Alaska Airlines Malfunction)
“I think the Max 9 grounding is probably the straw that broke the camel’s back for us,” Kirby said. “We’re going to at least build a plan that doesn’t have the Max 10 in it.”
Kirby explained that it would take “real action” to fix Boeing’s issues and noted that he was “disappointed that the manufacturing challenges do keep happening at Boeing,” according to CNBC. United announced Monday that it was expecting to lose anywhere from 35 to 85 cents per share in the first quarter as a result of the grounding of Max 9s, according to The Associated Press.
A United Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 9 airplane takes off from Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) as seen from El Segundo, California, on September 11, 2023. (Photo by PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images)
A spokesperson for Boeing referred the Daily Caller News Foundation to a statement from Stan Deal, president and CEO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes.
“We have let down our airline customers and are deeply sorry for the significant disruption to them, their employees and their passengers,” Deal said. “We are taking action on a comprehensive plan to bring these airplanes safely back to service and to improve our quality and delivery performance. We will follow the lead of the [Federal Aviation Administration] and support our customers every step of the way.”
United found several loose bolts near or around the plug doors on at least five of its Boeing aircraft after an inspection following an emergency door plug ripping off the side of an Alaska Airlines Boeing plane.
“Since we began preliminary inspections on Saturday, we have found instances that appear to relate to installation issues in the door plug — for example, bolts that needed additional tightening,” United Airlines told the DCNF in a previous statement. “These findings will be remedied by our Tech Ops team to safely return the aircraft to service.”
The Federal Aviation Administration announced on Jan. 11 that it was opening an investigation into Boeing to determine if the company failed to conform to FAA-approved designs and safety measures.
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