Boeing, once a premier in the aviation industry, now faces major criticism as the company’s standards are being questioned. After the MCAS situation in 2019, and now with the Alaska & United Airlines emergency door issues, Boeing is pushing the idea of ‘we’re too big of a company to die’ to the absolute limit.
Boeing wiped out all mainstream aircraft manufacturers and was a powerhouse. Airbus slowly grew in popularity in Europe, and became a competitor. When Airbus began selling a lot of aircraft, Boeing merged with McDonald-Douglas, and Boeing went all-in on Wall Street. This was the point when Boeing turned from quality aircraft, caring executives, and a happy workforce to profits over people, and all that mattered was the value of stocks. Many ex-Boeing employees claim that the workplace became hostile – they couldn’t make complaints to supervisors, and they were expected to do more work with less people. Many of these Boeing whistleblowers have been ‘quieted,’ however many rumors and conspiracy theories surround the situation.
The 737 aircraft is a single aisle, low-mid-range aircraft produced by Boeing, and by the 20th century everyone thought it had run its course between the original line, and then the NEO . The NEO additions were the first update to the original 737 aircraft. They were the middleman between the originals and the MAX aircraft. Then came the Airbus A320, revolutionizing the single aisle aviation industry. Sales were at a record high and Boeing knew a new aircraft was needed in order to keep sales. Designing a completely new plane takes time and money-two things Boeing didn’t have. Enter the brand-new 737 MAX aircraft . Combined with brand new, more fuel-efficient engines, lower upkeep costs, and wide accessibility, it was the perfect plan. Record numbers of these aircraft sold, so Boeing stocks were at an all-time high. Beyond this, the aviation industry had been revolutionized. All of this ended when a brand new 737 MAX 8 plunged into the ocean.
When Boeing needed a new aircraft to compete with Airbus, they decided to take the 737 and squeeze the life out of it. However, due to new engines to make the plane more efficient, the engines had to be pushed higher up and further forward on the wing. Due to this, Boeing implemented a new system to make sure the aircraft wouldn’t stall or lose lift. This system was called the MCAS, or the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System. Whenever the plane detected that it was angled upwards too much, it would automatically adjust the plane and angle it downwards. Boeing made a crucial mistake, making the entire system dependent on one, singular system known as the angle of attack sensor. In the words of US Congressman Peter DeFazio, (D. OR), “You never, ever, put a life-critical system with one point of failure.”
When the angle of attack sensors on the aircraft failed, in both crashes it falsely triggered the MCAS system. The triggers of this system forced the plane down and eventually straight into the ground. While this alone holds to be a major enough issue, it goes further, as Boeing attempted to hide everything about this system. Externally, in addition to the speed trim system, the MCAS system was presented as a minor fix and not a new system . This was to avoid further FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) testing as well as to make it easier for the pilots.” The APA (Allied Pilots Association) went up against Boeing, especially after they found out that Boeing did not include the MCAS system in the aircraft manuals, it was mentioned only in the acronym section as the mysterious “M.C.A.S.” Thanks to Congressman DeFazio, Boeing was finally sued by the US Federal Government with charges of conspiracy to defraud the Federal Aviation Administration’s Aircraft Evaluation Group (FAA AEG) in connection with the FAA AEG’s evaluation of Boeing’s 737 MAX airplane. Boeing paid out a total of over 2.5 billion dollars to escape criminal prosecutions. Immediately following this, the Boeing Board of Directors urged the CEO at the time, Dennis Muilenburg to resign. He did so while taking with him over sixty-six million dollars’ worth of shares and pensions from Boeing.
Boeing was considered to have ‘come-back’ from its faults until the most recent new issue, yet again with the Boeing 737 Max aircraft. The 737 MAX aircraft for Alaska Airlines left Portland, Oregon on route to Ontario Airport in California. However, while midflight, what first appeared to be a solid wall broke off the aircraft. As the pilots figured out the situation and the cabin panicked, the aircraft remained at 16,300 feet. What turned out to look like a solid wall and a window was actually what is known as ‘door plug.’ These plugs are used to fill in the emergency doors the aircraft came with, but didn’t need. Emergency doors are very heavy, so rather than keeping them on, they can put in a door plug to increase aircraft efficiency by decreasing weight.
The NTSB (National Transportation Safety Board) began an investigation and initially stated that it wasn’t a design flaw, but rather a maintenance issue. Shortly after, Alaska Airlines grounded their entire fleet of Boeing 737 MAX 9 aircraft, waiting for an investigation to continue. United Airlines also uses these door plugs, so they began investigating personally. After the prior safety issues with the 737 MAX, Boeing was facing even harsher public scrutiny during this situation.
The NTSP concluded that the bolts that kept the door in place were loose, allowing the door to fall off mid-flight. Alaska Airlines then checked all their 737 MAX 9 aircraft and came out with a statement saying they discovered “some loose hardware.” United Airlines also released a statement stating they found bolts in need of “additional tightening.” These aircraft by Boeing, while rightfully facing scrutiny, should generally be considered safe. Air travel has extremely low accident rates, and the issue in this case was poor maintenance. Luckily, there were no fatalities.
The high status and reputation of the Boeing Company has allowed them to remain in a place of dominance and trust in the aviation industry. However, Airbus has recently been gaining an advantage over Boeing in many fields of aviation by developing more revolutionary aircraft. Should Boeing face another major scandal in the future, it may begin to spell the end of the once powerful and trusted Boeing Company.