Title : Boeing cuts 737 MAX output in wake of deadly crashes
link : Boeing cuts 737 MAX output in wake of deadly crashes
Boeing cuts 737 MAX output in wake of deadly crashes
Boeing will cut production of its troubled 737 MAX airliner this month, underscoring the growing financial risk it faces the longer its best-selling plane remains grounded after two deadly crashes.
Key points:
- The company will cut production of the 737 MAX from 52 to 42 planes per month
- Boeing also announced it would create a special board committee to review designs
- Regulators around the world have grounded the jet in the wake of two crashes that killed a total of 346 people
The company said starting in mid-April, it will cut production of the plane from 52 to 42 planes per month so it can focus its attention on fixing the flight-control software that has been implicated in the crashes.
The move was not a complete surprise — Boeing had already suspended deliveries of the MAX last month after regulators around the world grounded the jet.
Preliminary reports into accidents in Indonesia and Ethiopia found that faulty sensor readings erroneously triggered an anti-stall system that pushed the plane's nose down.
Pilots of each plane struggled in vain to regain control over the automated system.
In all, 346 people died in the crashes, and Boeing faces a growing number of lawsuits filed by families of the victims.
Boeing also announced it was creating a special board committee to review jetliner design and development.
The announcement to cut production comes after Boeing acknowledged that a second software issue had emerged that needed fixing on the MAX — a discovery that explained why the aircraft maker had pushed back its ambitious schedule for getting the planes back in the air.
A Boeing spokesman called it a "relatively minor issue" and said the plane maker already had a fix in the works.
He said the latest issue was not part of flight-control software called MCAS that Boeing has been working to upgrade since the first crash.
Cutting production not due to potential cancellations
Chairman and chief executive Dennis Muilenburg described the production cut as temporary and a response to the suspension of MAX deliveries.
Boeing has delivered fewer than 400 MAX jets, but has a backlog of more than 4,600 unfilled orders.
The Chicago-based company had hoped to expand MAX production this year to 57 planes a month.
Indonesia's Garuda Airlines has said it will cancel an order for 49 MAX jets, and other airlines — including Lion Air, whose MAX 8 crashed off the coast of Indonesia in October last year — have raised the possibility of cancelling.
A Boeing official said the announcement about cutting production was not due to potential cancellations.
In a statement, Mr Muilenburg said the reduction was designed to keep a healthy production system and maintain current employment — in effect, slowing down production now to avoid a deeper cut later, if fixing the plane takes longer than expected.
Analysts said the absence of deliveries would eat into Boeing's cash flow because it gets most of the cost of a plane upon delivery.
Boeing declined to provide figures, but undelivered MAX jets have been stacking up at its assembly plant in Renton, Washington.
Airlines that operate the MAX will be squeezed the longer the planes are grounded, particularly if the interruption extends into the peak summer travel season.
AP
Thus Article Boeing cuts 737 MAX output in wake of deadly crashes
You are now reading the article Boeing cuts 737 MAX output in wake of deadly crashes with the link address https://coneknews.blogspot.com/2019/04/boeing-cuts-737-max-output-in-wake-of.html
0 Response to "Boeing cuts 737 MAX output in wake of deadly crashes"
Post a Comment