Problems grow for Boeing. The aeronautical manufacturer's shares fell up to 8% this Monday in the pre-opening of the market in the US, the first session after the incident of one of its ships on an Alaska Airlines flight. The securities listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange echo the trend in the face of doubts about the safety of the model.
The punishment is explained by the renewed questions with the Boeing 737 Max 9 following an incident with one of these devices on an Alaska Airlines route with 171 passengers on board. One of the doors, supposedly sealed, detached in mid-flight shortly after takeoff, causing cabin depressurization and an emergency landing. After that, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) ordered the grounding of the entire fleet of the model that operates in the United States. There are more than a hundred aircraft that will need "immediate inspections", which damages both their image as potential orders and income. That is what investors discount with the sale of shares. The company will now have to divert resources for research and redesigns, a measure that may reduce its production capacity.
Aircraft from United Airlines, Aeromexico, Copa Airlines or Turkish Airlines have been left without flying. The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) has indicated that in Europe there is no operator that uses the 737 Max 9 with the same technical options as the plane that suffered the incident.
The Boeing 737 Max, one of the company's flagships, thus adds another episode to its history of problems. In October 2018 and March 2019, two tragic accidents on flights with Boeing 737 Max 8 - a previous version of Alaska Airlines - operated by Lion Airlines and Ethiopian Airlines caused the death of 346 people. The accidents left this model grounded around the planet as a precaution for 20 months and forced the flight control system to be modified.
“The decompression was explosive,” the Alaska Airlines Flight Attendants Association reported about the last episode. On Saturday, the airline noted on its networks that after reviewing more than a quarter of its fleet of 65 737 Max 9s, it had not found any "worrying elements."
While Boeing suffers, its rival Airbus, which could benefit by fishing in troubled waters, sees its shares rise above 1%. The European giant has already managed to beat its great rival in 2023, so the gap could extend if doubts continue. While Airbus has already managed to exceed its pre-pandemic levels on the stock market, Boeing is still 30% below, a reflection that its exit from Covid is being more difficult. In fact, CEO Dave Calhoun intended for the exercise to reverse the trend. Something that one week into the year already seems complicated...
