In recent inspections of Boeing 737 Max 9 airplanes following an early January incident in which the door blew off of one mid-flight, Alaska Airlines CEO Ben Minicucci revealed that the airline had found "some loose bolts on many" of their Max 9s.
When asked in an interview with NBC whether Boeing has a quality control problem, Minicucci said: "I think this is the issue that’s at question right here, which is what is Boeing going to do differently on their quality program, to make sure that when we get an airplane, it’s at the highest degree of excellence and that’s what’s got to be different going forward."
"I’m more than frustrated and disappointed," he said. "I am angry. This happened to Alaska Airlines. It happened to our guests and happened to our people. And — my demand on Boeing is what are they going to do to improve their quality programs in-house."
After the door blew out on a 737 Max 9 a few minutes into a flight from Portland, Oregon to Ontario, California - forcing an emergency landing, the FAA ordered all Boeing Max 9 planes grounded for a safety investigation - and announced an audit of the Boeing Max 9 production line and suppliers "to evaluate Boeing’s compliance with its approved quality procedures."
Boeing and its third-party suppliers will also face additional increased monitoring.
Wheel-y guys?
It gets worse for Boeing. On Saturday, a Delta 757 traveling from Atlanta lost a wheel as it attempted to take off from the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.
The "nose wheel came off and rolled down the hill," according to the incident report.
!
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 23, 2024
Get it together Boeing...
— Stephanie 🇺🇸 (@StephHoover8) January 23, 2024
I'm not gonna be flying for a while pic.twitter.com/CF27qmyTe4
— 𝓓𝖗. 𝓥𝖔𝐱 𝓞𝖈𝖚𝖑𝖎 (@Vox_Oculi) January 23, 2024