Since the beginning of this year, Boeing has experienced frequent safety accidents, which have repeatedly damaged its reputation and marketing performance.
In the aviation industry, incidents such as sudden diving and door stopper detachment of Boeing aircraft continue to escalate; Two American astronauts have been stranded on the International Space Station aboard the Boeing "Interstellar" spacecraft due to multiple malfunctions, and their return date is uncertain
Royal Dutch Airlines announced on the 27th that it will no longer use aircraft produced by Boeing in the coming years.
At the same time, there is constant good news about the C919. On August 28th, Air China and China Southern Airlines simultaneously received their first C919 aircraft at the COMAC General Assembly and Manufacturing Center Pudong Base. At 11:23 on August 29th, a domestically produced C919 aircraft with registration number B-919X from Air China landed smoothly at Beijing Capital International Airport and slowly taxied through the "Watergate" symbolizing the highest honor in the civil aviation industry. The first domestically produced C919 large aircraft of Air China has officially joined the fleet.
Boeing's Vice President of Civil Aviation Marketing, Howard Ren, believes that the C919 aircraft has become a competitor to Boeing. Check out the latest report →
Since the beginning of this year, Boeing has experienced numerous accidents.
Boeing, please answer, what is safety
·On August 19th, Boeing received two more pieces of bad news: three of its 787 aircraft were 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 was suspended from test flights due to a malfunction in its fuselage components.
·On July 10th local time, a Boeing 737-800 aircraft of American Airlines flying from Florida to Arizona had a tire blowout while taxiing on the runway, causing a large amount of smoke and fire near the landing gear. At the time of the incident, there were 174 passengers and 6 crew members on board the plane. Fortunately, the accident did not cause any casualties.
△ Fox News Network, USA
·On July 8th, a Boeing 757 aircraft of United Airlines took off from Los Angeles International Airport and a tire on the plane came off.
△ ABC News Program
·The Federal Aviation Administration of the United States stated on July 8th that it has requested inspections of 2600 Boeing 737 aircraft due to the possibility of passenger oxygen masks malfunctioning in emergency situations. The management bureau stated that the agency has received multiple reports of displacement issues with the passenger service component oxygen generator in the relevant aircraft models.
Reuters
·On June 5th, Boeing's first manned test flight of the "Starliner" spacecraft was launched from Cape Canaveral Space Force Base in Florida, USA, aboard the United Launch Alliance's "Atlas 5" rocket, carrying American astronauts Barry Wilmore and Sunny Williams to the International Space Station. The spacecraft arrived at the International Space Station on June 6th and was scheduled to depart from the station and return to Earth on June 14th. However, due to issues such as propulsion failure and helium leakage, the return time has been repeatedly postponed.
·In March of this year, a Boeing 777-200 aircraft flying from United Airlines to Osaka, Japan, experienced a tire detachment accident while taking off from San Francisco, USA, and several cars in the airport staff parking lot were smashed.
△ The New York Post
·On March 15th, a United Airlines Boeing 737-800 aircraft discovered a missing panel on the exterior of the fuselage after landing.
·On March 11th, a Boeing 787-9 aircraft operated by Chile based Latham Airlines experienced a "technical malfunction" during flight, with the fuselage shaking violently and causing multiple injuries.
·On March 4th, a United Airlines Boeing 737 aircraft was forced to return shortly after takeoff due to an engine fire.
·In January of this year, a Boeing 757 aircraft operated by Delta Air Lines was preparing to take off in Atlanta, the capital of Georgia. During taxiing, one of the wheels on the front landing gear suddenly detached and rolled off the runway.
△ Fox News Channel News in the United States
·At the beginning of this year, a Boeing 737 MAX 9 aircraft operated by Alaska Airlines had an accident shortly after takeoff, with a door stopper on the side of the cabin falling off.
△ American Cable News Network
Boeing's situation is becoming increasingly difficult
Aerospace giant Boeing is experiencing a 'cold winter'.
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.
Boeing's situation has become increasingly difficult. The new spacecraft "Interstellar Airplane" failed to carry passengers back as expected; The civil aircraft department, which is the main business of the company, is facing difficulties due to quality issues; The research and development capabilities in the aerospace field have significantly declined, and the losses have gradually increased as a result
Boeing CEO Kelly Altberg spoke with NASA Administrator Nelson on the 24th and informed him that Boeing "will continue to develop the 'StarCraft' aircraft.
Previously, NASA commissioned Boeing to develop a spacecraft to transport astronauts to the International Space Station, with a contract amount of $4.2 billion. According to the plan, Boeing's spacecraft is required to perform a maximum of six missions to transport astronauts to the International Space Station.
However, the research and development work has encountered difficulties. In 2014, Boeing received an order and initially planned to conduct manned flights in 2017. However, in reality, the first manned flight was delayed by 7 years. Due to the continuous increase in research and development expenses, Boeing has suffered a cumulative loss of approximately $1.6 billion. Some people are concerned that if Boeing decides to continue developing spacecraft, the cost will further increase.
In 2023, Boeing's defense and aerospace division will have sales of approximately $24.9 billion, making it the second largest pillar business after the civil aviation division (with sales of approximately $33.9 billion). If the aerospace business suffers setbacks and civil aviation is also sluggish, the company's operations will become even more difficult.
Boeing has also shown obvious flaws in its business beyond the 'interstellar passenger plane'.
Boeing participated in the development of large rockets through the Artemis moon landing program. However, NASA inspectors announced in early August that there were issues with Boeing's manufacturing quality management and other aspects, resulting in an increase of approximately $700 million in rocket development costs.
The civilian aircraft business is also struggling. The narrow body aircraft 737 MAX experienced a fuselage damage accident during its flight in January. The cause of the accident was that the factory workers forgot to secure the emergency exit door with a buckle. After the incident, Boeing began to slow down its production pace in order to improve production quality.
The development of the next generation large aircraft 777X has also been delayed. On August 19th, there were reports that the engine components of the test aircraft malfunctioned and the test aircraft stopped flying. The 777X is a large aircraft capable of carrying 400 people and is currently in the research and development stage. The goal is to deliver it by 2025, which is 5 years later than the original plan. About 20% of its body is produced by Japanese companies such as Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, so the development of this model has a significant impact on Japan's aircraft industry.
Military aircraft have also suffered losses due to prolonged development cycles. The cost of training aircraft and aerial refueling drones developed for the Air Force exceeded the budget.
Due to consecutive negative news reports in the civilian aircraft, defense, and aerospace sectors, Boeing's performance has continued to deteriorate, with only four quarters of profit after 2019. In the first half of 2024, Boeing only received 156 aircraft orders, compared to a net order quantity of 567 aircraft for the same period the previous year.
In early August, Otterberg had just taken office as the new CEO of Boeing. This new leader, who shoulders the heavy responsibility of revitalizing the aerospace giant, had to face the crisis at the beginning of his tenure.
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