Aircraft construction
Boeing paid Alaska Airlines millions for 737 failure
An Alaska Airlines Boeing 737-9 Max at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. photo
© Lindsey Wasson/AP/dpa
Boeing blames for week-long shutdown after near-miss. Alaska Airlines collects $160 million – and hopes for more.
The week-long shutdown of Boeing’s 737-9 Max aircraft after a near-miss in January are costing the aircraft manufacturer high costs.
In the last quarter, Boeing paid the airline Alaska Airlines around 160 million dollars (around 148 million euros) as compensation for lost revenue and additional expenses incurred. Further compensation is expected, but details are confidential, Alaska Airlines said in a statement.
In the incident in January with a virtually new Boeing 737-9 Max from Alaska Airlines, a fuselage fragment broke off in seat row 26 shortly after take-off. The more than 170 people on board largely escaped horror. However, it was only by a stroke of luck that the two seats near the hole in the fuselage remained empty and the aircraft was still at a relatively low altitude.
According to initial investigations, the accident investigation authority NTSB assumes that four fastening bolts were missing from the fuselage part. There are indications that the fragment continued to slide up until it broke out on the machine’s 154th flight, said NTSB chief Jennifer Homendy in a hearing in the US Senate. It is known that the fuselage fragment was removed and reinstalled at the Boeing factory for rework. However, the company has not yet been able to find any documents about this and make them available to the investigators. Boeing is under increased pressure to improve quality controls following the incident. CEO Dave Calhoun recently announced his retirement.
In addition to Alaska Airlines, the major US airline United also had to ground many aircraft until the end of January after the incident.