Alaska Air and United Airlines made headlines to kick off the week after both commercial airliners announced that they had moved to ground their Boeing Max 9 aircrafts. Both companies grounded the aircrafts on Sunday as they waited for instructions on how to inspect the planes.
On Monday, federal investigators stated that it was possible that bolts that were supposed to keep a fuselage panel in place were never installed. The panel blew off on an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 Max 9 flight on Friday night. Shortly after take-off, the door plug came loose and blew open. Fortunately, no passengers were harmed in the accident.
United Airlines stated that it had also found loose bolts on similar panels on some of its Max 9 jets. This occurred as the airliner prepared them for inspection after the midair accident. Alaska Airlines made similar findings on its Boeing Max 9 aircraft. Jennifer Homendy, the National Transportation Safety Board chairwoman, said that the four bolts, known as spot bolts, would have prevented the door from being blown off if they were fastened correctly.
Boeing (NYSE:BA) stock has suffered in the face of yet another scandal for its Max line of jets. Shares of the American multinational have dropped 7.6% month-over-month as of close on Monday, January 8, 2024. However, the stock is still up 9.8% year over year. Investors will want to watch the ongoing investigation closely, as Boeing hopes to avoid taking another hit only a few years removed from the grounding of Max 8’s after two devastating accidents in 2019 and 2020.