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Alaska Air finds loose hardware on part of its 737 Max 9s: Alaska Air technicians found some loose hardware in the door plug area on some of its Boeing 737 Max 9 planes, following investigations after an incident, Reuters reports. The findings come on the back of an investigation after an Alaska Air flight was forced to make an emergency landing last Friday due to a panel flying off mid-flight. The US Federal Aviation Administration policy has since called for the grounding of over 170 Boeing 737 Max 9s.
Impact to the cargo industry: Passenger aircrafts — like the Boeing 737 Max 9 — are equipped with dedicated cargo holds to support air freight capacity. This dual use approach leads grounding decisions to potentially increasing rates and reshuffle routes.
Boeing has been in trouble for a while:Boeing’s integrity and reputation have been seriously compromised by recent shortcomings, including issues with the Boeing 737 MAX that surfaced a few years earlier, Chief Analyst at OAG John Grant told CNBC in an interview (watch, runtime: 04:14). Despite commercial aviation being safer than ever before, the “loose hardware” found highlights gross failures in the aircraft maker’s quality assurance checks and oversight over subcontractors, Grant said.
Commercial pressures across the supply chain are placing strain on the aviation industry, with the industry struggling to manage resources to meet delivery dates, Grant said. Boeing cannot realize revenue from a sold aircraft on its books until it is delivered to the airline that ordered it, and this might have pushed the aircraft maker to forgo necessary checks on parts delivered by subcontractors, he added.
