According to CCTV News on the 28th, on August 27th local time, Royal Dutch Airlines received its first "Airbus" aircraft for short haul flights. The company stated that in the coming years, Royal Dutch Airlines will invest 7 billion euros in a new fleet and will no longer use aircraft produced by Boeing.
It is reported that the company plans to use Airbus A321neo aircraft to replace the currently in service Boeing 737 passenger planes, and use Airbus A350 aircraft to replace existing Boeing planes and passenger planes used for long-distance flights.
According to the official website of KLM, it was founded in 1919 and is the oldest airline in the world, still operating under its original name.
KLM official website
Last year, KLM and Air France jointly announced their intention to invest extensively in fleet updates in the coming years. Starting from the summer of 2024, Boeing 737 aircraft will be replaced with the new Airbus A321neo aircraft for short to medium haul flights. Starting from 2026, the Airbus A350 will replace the Boeing 777 and A330.
Since the beginning of this year, Boeing (BA, stock price: $173.05; total market value: $106.6 billion) has continued to experience frequent safety accidents, with incidents such as sudden dives and door plugs falling off in mid air. Recently, bad news has been received: three of its 787 aircraft have been required by the Federal Aviation Administration of the United States to undergo inspections by global airlines due to major safety hazards, and the 777-9X aircraft has suspended test flights due to fuselage component failures. The security vulnerabilities behind these events have actually existed for a long time.
According to the Economic Reference News, on the 8th of this month, Boeing welcomed its new CEO, aviation industry veteran Kelly Altberg. The Financial Times commented that Boeing is facing one of the most severe crises since its establishment, and it is difficult for Ottoberg to lead the company to "take off again".
In 2018 and 2019, both air disasters involved Boeing 737 MAX aircraft. The investigation found that the cause of the accident was related to security design vulnerabilities in the new software system of the aircraft model, as well as Boeing intentionally concealing this risk from the Federal Aviation Administration. After the three-year deferred prosecution agreement between Boeing and the US Department of Justice expired, in January of this year, a 737 MAX aircraft operated by Alaska Airlines was found by the Department of Justice to have violated the agreement after a door stopper fell off during flight. The Department of Justice demanded that Boeing accept a plea agreement or face prosecution. At the end of July, Boeing subscribed to the fine and promised to make improvements, avoiding reputational damage and heavier penalties that may arise from a lengthy trial.
Boeing's sales performance continues to decline significantly. In the first half of 2024, Boeing only received 156 aircraft orders, while the net orders for passenger planes in the same period of the previous year were over 500.
Security issues are frequently exposed, but the hidden dangers have already been planted. Peter Robinson, a senior American journalist and writer, argues in his book "Blind Flight" that Boeing's underlying culture is flawed, overly profit driven, while the engineer culture that emphasizes innovation, standards, craftsmanship, and quality is severely diluted.
Robinson believes that for a long time, in order to maintain the stock price, Boeing's profit distribution has been tilted towards shareholders, resulting in relatively insufficient investment in technological innovation. In order to compete with Airbus' new models, Boeing hastily launched the 737 MAX aircraft, laying hidden dangers for future flight safety.
As of July 31st local time, Boeing (BA) has disclosed its financial performance for the first half of the year ending on June 30th, 2024.
Specifically, Boeing's revenue in the first half of the year was 33.435 billion US dollars, a year-on-year decrease of 11%; GAAP net loss was $1.794 billion, with the loss expanding more than two-fold year-on-year. The second quarter revenue was lower than market expectations, at $16.866 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 15%; GAAP net loss was $1.439 billion, with the loss expanding more than 8 times year-on-year.
Boeing stated that the losses in the first half of 2024 were mainly due to a decrease in commercial aircraft deliveries and losses in defense development projects.