United Airlines' CEO says he is “disappointed” by Boeing's recent problems that led to the grounding of many United aircraft and said the company will consider new options in the future. Ta.
Scott Kirby said “real action” was needed to restore Boeing's reputation and that he had spoken with Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun to express his dissatisfaction. Ta.
“Look, we're Boeing's biggest customer in the world. They're our biggest partner in the world.” Kirby said in an interview with CBNC.. “We need Boeing to succeed…but they consistently have manufacturing challenges and we need to take action together.”
In early January, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) launched an investigation into an issue in which a door panel of an Alaska Airlines passenger plane was blown off mid-flight, and ordered the grounding of approximately 200 Boeing 757 Max 9 planes. It has been under intense scrutiny since the beginning of the year.
The FAA announced Monday that another Boeing plane was using a similar door plug and advised airlines to inspect their fleets.
Kirby said Calhoun agrees that real action is needed, but as the investigation into the Max aircraft continues, Kirby is “much more interested” in what Boeing does next. he said.
“But behind the scenes, what are the actual actions to really bring the manufacturing process back to the high level of quality and consistency that existed historically?” he said.
Along with American Airlines and Southwest Airlines, Alaska Airlines and United Airlines, two other U.S. carriers that operate Boeing Co. planes, have experienced delays and delays since grounding their planes to inspect loose door panel bolts. Flight cancellations and problems are increasing. They each reported finding loose bolts on several Max 9 planes.
United announced on Monday that it would incur a loss in the first quarter of this year as a result of dealing with the release. The company expects a loss of $0.35 to $0.85 per share, but is confident it will recover to a full-year profit, according to the Associated Press.
Kirby said he was disappointed by Boeing's mistake but was confident the plane would soon be safe to fly.
“Well, I'm disappointed. First of all, the thing I can say about Max is that I'm confident that he was 100% safe during the flight. We have a pretty good handle on what happened,” he said. said, adding that the Chicago-based aviation technical operations team is working around the clock to resolve the issue.
“To the FAA's credit, they worked with us on weekends and late at night, even in the weeds,” Kirby said. “So I think we're nearing the end of the line on this issue and the planes will be safe, but I'm disappointed that manufacturing challenges continue to occur at Boeing. This is nothing new.”
Kirby said the Max 9 grounding was “the straw that broke the camel's back” and that the company plans to have no future Max models. He said the company will continue to work with Boeing, but will “wait and see” whether it will need to consider working with a new manufacturer.
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