How to fix Boeing: Hard truths and difficult solutions
Article by Ethan Peasley-Lynch
Photo by Justin Hu on Unsplash
Old design, new problems
Without a doubt, you've heard about the latest set of Boeing 737 MAX problems. It started a few weeks before a door blew off an Alaska Airlines 737 MAX 9 midflight, when Boeing issued an advisory to 737 MAX operators concerning loose bolts on newer units. Loose. Bolts. How this could ever happen at a corporation such as Boeing is beyond me, but the fact of the matter is that this is not an isolated incident. The 737 MAX's design flaws are responsible for the deaths of nearly 350 people, and its 20 month long grounding cost the airline industry untold losses. This presents Boeing, and indeed the US aerospace industry with a choice: either work to fix the problems with the 737 MAX, or cut losses and start from scratch. I'm almost certain Boeing and the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) will opt for the latter, but I believe that will be detrimental to both passenger safety and to the long-term health of the US economy. Regardless of what Boeing does to remedy the loose bolts and malfunctioning exit doors, there will almost certainly be new problems in the future, especially with the 737 MAX 10 model that Boeing is attempting to certify. In doing so, the corporation has requested an exemption from new FAA safety regulations in order to further stretch the nearly 60 year old design. However, in my opinion, the FAA should not only reject this request, but ground the 737 MAX permanently.
Time for an intervention
Bogaisky, Jeremy. “Boeing May Not Roll out a New (Potentially Autonomous) Airliner until 2035; Promises to Return Cash to Investors in 2026.” Forbes, 2 Nov. 2022, www.forbes.com/sites/jeremybogaisky/2022/11/02/boeing-may-not-roll-out-a-new-potentially-autonomous-airliner-until-2035-promises-to-return-cash-to-investors-in-2026/?sh=6eb7e04b279d. Accessed 11 Jan. 2024.
Coffey, Helen. “Boeing Threatens to Pull Boeing 737 MAX 10 Unless given Safety Requirement Exemption.” The Independent, 8 July 2022, www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/boeing-cancel-boeing-737-max-10-b2118707.html. Accessed 11 Jan. 2024.
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