The longtime mainstay of American aviation has had nine major quality control failures in the past three months. The seemingly endless parade of problems plaguing the company’s planes have created widespread anxiety in the general public about the safety of air travel in general, and about Boeing aircraft quality in particular.
The resulting pressure has finally reached the office of CEO Dave Calhoun, who has announced his intention to resign by the end of the year. Boeing’s Chairman of the Board Larry Kellner has also announced his intention not to seek reelection. Former Qualcomm CEO Steve Mollenkopf, a Boeing board member since 2020, will take Kellner’s place while the search for a replacement CEO proceeds.
While Boeing has weathered such quality-control concerns in the past, a January incident in which an Alaska Airline flight lost a door during a flight brought these concerns to the public’s attention after going viral on social media. Intense public scrutiny has followed every incident since involving a Boeing aircraft.
Four days after the midair blow-out of the door on Alaska Airlines, both Alaska and United airlines told the public that they had discovered loose bolts on the door plugs of several Max 9 aircraft.
Then, on January 13, Japan’s All Nippon Airways was forced to cancel takeoff of a Boeing 737-800 after a cockpit window cracked. A few days later, on January 18th, an Atlas Air-operated 747-8 was recorded spouting gouts of flame as it flew over Miami outbound for Puerto Rico. The flight was grounded by the crew due to engine failure. January 20th saw an incident involving a Delta-owned 757 at Atlanta International Airport in Georgia. The flight was taxiing for takeoff to Bogota, Colombia when its front wheel fell off and rolled away. A 777-200 flight outbound from SFO on March 7 also lost a wheel. Several other incidents have plagued Boeing’s planes in the days since.
