Boeing has had a tumultuous month with a series of public relations disasters that sunk its market price and placed lives at risk. It began when a piece of a door panel blew off a 737 Max 9 aircraft on a routine flight from Portland, Oregon, to Ontario, California. It led to a temporary grounding of the 737 Max 9, which, upon further inspection, was discovered to have numerous issues, not least being that bolts needed to be tightened.
The Federal Aviation Administration later issued an indefinite grounding of the 737 Max 9 and an audit of Boeing’s manufacturing process. This model has just recently returned to the skies, but an ex-Boeing manager is warning travelers to avoid it at all costs (via NY Post):
Former high-level Boeing managers and engineers have issued startling warnings for flyers to avoid the airplane giant’s troubled 737 MAX 9 jets as the model once again takes to the skies.
“I would absolutely not fly a MAX airplane,” one-time senior Boeing manager Ed Pierson bluntly told the Los Angeles Times of the model that recently saw a door plug blow out in midair on an Alaska Airlines flight.
“I’ve worked in the factory where they were built, and I saw the pressure employees were under to rush the planes out the door.”
Joe Jacobsen, a former Boeing engineer who has also worked at the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), gave a similar warning, saying it was “premature” for airlines, including Alaska, to have resumed flying the jets.
“I would tell my family to avoid the MAX,” Jacobsen told the LA Times, claiming that his time at the company made him realize that profits were prioritized over quality control.
Plan your flights accordingly, folks.