WASHINGTON (AP) — A machinists strike. Another safety problem involving its troubled top-selling airliner. A plunging stock price. 2024 was already a disheartening year for Boeing, the American aviation giant. But when one of the company’s jets crash-landed in South Korea on Sunday, killing all but two of the 181 people on board, it marked the culmination of a particularly unfortunate year for Boeing.
The cause of the crash remains under investigation, and aviation experts were prompt to differentiate Sunday’s incident from the company’s previous safety issues. Alan Price, a former chief pilot at Delta Air Lines turned consultant, emphasized that it would be unjust to connect the Sunday incident to the two fatal crashes involving Boeing’s problematic 737 Max jetliner in 2018 and 2019. Early this year, a door plug detached from a 737 Max while in flight, raising further concerns about the aircraft.
The Boeing 737-800 that crash-landed in Korea, Price pointed out, is “a very proven airplane. It’s different from the Max … It’s a very safe airplane.” For years, Boeing has stood as a titan of American manufacturing. Yet the recurring issues of the past year have taken a toll. In 2024, the company’s stock price has plummeted by over 30%.
The company’s safety reputation was notably marred by the 737 Max crashes off the coast of Indonesia and in Ethiopia within five months of each other in 2018 and 2019, claiming a total of 346 lives. In the ensuing five years, Boeing has suffered losses exceeding $23 billion and has fallen behind its European competitor, Airbus, in aircraft sales and deliveries.
Last autumn, 33,000 Boeing machinists initiated a strike, severely impacting the production of the 737 Max, the 777 airliner, and the 767 cargo plane. The strike lasted seven weeks until members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers consented to a proposal inclusive of 38% pay raises over four years.
In January, a door plug dislodged from a 737 Max during an Alaska Airlines flight. Federal regulators responded by enforcing restrictions on Boeing aircraft production, maintaining them until they were assured of manufacturing safety at the company. In July, Boeing consented to pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit fraud for misleading Federal Aviation Administration regulators who sanctioned the 737 Max. Acting based on Boeing’s incomplete disclosures, the FAA approved minimal, computer-based training instead of more comprehensive training in flight simulators. Simulator training would have escalated airlines’ operating costs for the Max, potentially driving some to purchase planes from Airbus instead. (Prosecutors indicated a lack of evidence to argue that Boeing’s deception contributed to the crashes.)
However, a federal judge in Texas, Reed O’Connor, rejected the plea deal this month, positing that diversity, inclusion, and equity (DEI) policies within the government and at Boeing could introduce racial.
