A never ending nightmare for Boeing, losses soar as it faces issues with all its new passenger jets

The bad news keeps piling up for Boeing as the 777X gets delayed to 2025, the 787 faces a multitude of issues, and the company struggles to meet the 737 MAX 10’s certification deadline of end of year 2022. They also reported a much bigger loss than was expected in their Q1 2022 earnings call, $1.2 billion compared to $561 million Q1 2021.

737 MAX

Boeing 737 MAX 10

It all started with the 737 MAX debacle; in 2018 a brand-new Lion Air Boeing 737 MAX crashed shortly after takeoff into the Java Sea killing all 189 passengers and crew onboard. Later, in 2019 another 737 MAX crashed, this time in Ethiopia, again the airplane crashed shortly after takeoff killing all 157 passengers and crew onboard. These two accidents are very similar, and while when the first plane crashed it was blamed on pilot error, when the second plane crashed with a very similar flight path focus shifted toward the aircraft’s design and all aircraft of the type were grounded. It was found that when Boeing modified the aircraft with bigger engines to make it more fuel efficient its flight characteristics changed. Boeing implemented a system called Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS) that was supposed to pitch the aircraft down whenever certain conditions were met and in the phases of flight were these new aerodynamic characteristics caused the aircraft to behave differently but it failed and pitched the aircraft down in level flight. The aircraft remained grounded for 2 years while Boeing developed a fix only being allowed to fly again in late 2020.

The issue now is certifying one of the types variants, the MAX 10. The aircraft faces an uncertain future with U.S. congressman Peter DeFazio making moves to block an extension to the December 2022 deadline for the aircraft's certification. 

The waiver pertains to the 737 MAX’s lack of an advanced crew alerting system, a two-year grace period was given to Boeing to certify the type, but they are running behind schedule and have asked the FAA for a further extension to the grace period.

DeFazio who currently leads the U.S. House of Representatives Transportation and Infrastructure Committee has said that he would oppose Congress extending the waiver it had granted the 737 MAX 10 program. 

In a statement DeFazio said: "The aircraft certification bill gave the FAA a two-year grace period to certify aircraft without the advanced flight crew alerting system, but that grace period should not be extended."

The FAA warned Boeing in March that time was running out to get the MAX 10 certified before the deadline and asked them for a “mature certification schedule”. If the deadline is missed the program could face costly disruptions and delays as Boeing would have to redesign the aircraft to add a new alerting system.

777X

Boeing 777-9

Boeing has announced that the type’s entry into service will be delayed even further to 2025, it was initially planned for 2020.

The 777X is Boeing’s new flagship and will come in two variants, the 777-8 and 777-9, the aircraft is an update larger and longer ranged version of the original 777-200 launched in the 1990s.

The aircraft has been delayed significantly over the years due to a variety of reasons such as production issues, engine issues, and certification issues. The type was initially planned to complete its first test flight in mid-2019 but that ended up getting pushed to early 2020. The delay was due to the new General Electric GE9X engines on the aircraft, these are the biggest engines ever on a commercial aircraft, the engines were having durability issues causing a delay in their certification. Another issue with the aircraft was a door that blew off during stress testing.

Adding to all these issues, Boeing is now facing a much more stringent certification process for the 777X due to the 737 MAX debacle.

Many customers such as Emirates are not pleased with these delays, carriers have been relying on Boeing’s timeline for their fleet planning and aircraft retirements. Emirates has repeatedly expressed their frustration with the program, they are the types biggest customer with 115 aircraft on order. Emirates CEO Sir Tim Clark has repeatedly threatened to cancel the airline’s order if the entry into service date were to be pushed out again.

In a statement the company said: “To minimize inventory and the number of airplanes requiring change incorporation, the 777-9 production rate ramp is being adjusted, including a temporary pause through 2023. This will result in approximately $1.5 billion of abnormal costs beginning in the second quarter of this year and continuing until 777-9 production resumes.”

787

The 787s issues date all the way back to 2013, just two years after the type entered service it was grounded for three months. The issue pertained to the aircraft’s APU batteries, the design was modified, and the issue was resolved.

The current concerns for the program are Boeing’s quality control and production processes for the type, this has resulted in the FAA stepping in to get involved. One of the issues are the aircraft’s titanium plates and some composite parts, the plane maker said that some of the titanium plates and composite parts used in some planes built over the last three years are not as strong as they should be resulting in the company having to do repairs to these airframes, it is also expected that these airframes will age faster and will require more inspections over the years as they accumulate more flight hours. Other issues include large gaps between fuselage panels and in the wing structure. 787 production has started in very low numbers however, deliveries are still on hold. 

The FAA has also revoked Boeing’s self-certification rights for the aircraft, and is instead certifying each undelivered 787 itself, this according to Boeing will result in high supplementary costs for the program. Boeing has submitted a new certification plan to the FAA and hopes to get its self-certification rights back before deliveries are planned to resume.

Boeing seems optimistic about getting the 787 safe again and commencing deliveries this year, they plan to deliver 8 per month by late 2023. They also seem optimistic about certifying the 737 MAX 10 by end of this year, though that seems more unlikely. As for the 777X, they’re aiming for certification by Q4 2024 and entry into service by 2025.

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