The American aircraft manufacturer Boeing is in crisis. This is because reliability is declining due to a series of recent accidents, such as parts of the fuselage being torn off during flights and cargo planes catching fire. On the 17th (local time), the Boeing 737 (US Air Force plane) that US Secretary of State Tony Blinken was trying to board failed due to an oxygen leak problem. Experts predict that the gap between Boeing (2nd place) and Airbus (1st place) could widen further as orders for new aircraft increase rapidly due to the pandemic.
US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigators are examining the door plug of Alaska Airlines Flight 1282, a Boeing 737 Max 9, which was found in a residential area in Portland, Oregon, on the 8th (local time). The plane, which took off from Portland with 177 people on board on the 5th, made an emergency landing due to a hole in the fuselage during the flight. / Yonhap News
According to the aviation industry on the 21st, the number of new Boeing aircraft orders last year was 1,456. During the same period, Airbus received orders for 2,319 units. Airbus orders are 1.6 times more than Boeing. Airbus’ performance last year was 29% higher than the previous record of 1,796 units in 2014.
Boeing won first place in the industry between 2012 and 2018. However, new orders plunged after the B737 Max 8 crashes of Ryanair in 2018 and Ethiopian Airlines in 2019, killing everyone on board. At that time, the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and China also began suspending operations.
The total number of aircraft delivered by Boeing in 2019 was 380, a decrease of 52.8% compared to 2018 (806). Since then, Boeing has gradually recovered its orders to 157 units in 2020, 340 units in 2021, and 480 units in 2022. However, it fell short of Airbus, which delivered 566 units (2020), 609 of units (2021), and 661 units (2022) during the same period.
Last year, Airbus received an order for 500 A320 aircraft from Indian airline Indigo. It was the largest single purchase contract in history for commercial aircraft.
An airline industry official said, “Boeing has been trying to close the gap with Airbus until last year, but the quality controversy has become an obstacle once again.”
On the 5th (local time), at Portland Airport in Oregon, USA, an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 Max 9 passenger plane suffered an accident when the ‘door plug’, a wall panel component, separated 10 minutes after take off, creating a hole. in the cabin. The Boeing 737 Max is the next model of the Boeing 737.
Subsequently, a problem with loose door plug bolts was confirmed on another airline’s 737 Max 9 aircraft. The United States Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) has extended the suspension of operations of the Boeing 737 Max 9 for an indefinite period. In addition, the FAA is said to be considering revoking the authority to inspect certain aircraft delegated to Boeing.
An Alaska Airlines Boeing 737-MAX 9 passenger plane, which made an emergency landing due to a hole in the fuselage during a recent flight, is waiting at Portland International Airport in Oregon, USA for maintenance on the 6th (local time) / Yonhap News
Recently, an incident occurred in which the private plane of US Secretary of State Tony Blinken, who attended the World Economic Forum (WEF) held in Davos, Switzerland, failed to take off due to a malfunction. The United States Air Force Boeing C-40 is a converted Boeing 737 aircraft used by the Vice President, First Lady, and Secretary of State. In the end, Secretary Blinken returned to the United States on another flight.
On the 19th, a fire broke out in a cargo plane which was a modified version of Boeing’s representative model, the Boeing 747-8. The cargo plane operated by Atlas Air, a cargo airline, was going from Miami to Puerto Rico. When the cargo plane was examined after the crash, a hole the size of a softball, larger than a baseball, was discovered on top of the engine. The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) are investigating.
Another aviation industry official said, “I understand that the current order volume accumulated by Airbus is more than six times that of Boeing.” He added, “Airbus is expected to benefit from this year’s Paris Air Show, where new aircraft order contracts are packed. .”
Meanwhile, in the case of the B737 Max 9 model which is the problem in this Alaska Airlines accident, no domestic airlines operate it. However, there are a total of 14 B737 Max 8s in the same Max series, including 5 for Korean Air, 4 for Eastar Jet, 2 each for T’way Air and Jeju Air, and 1 for Jin Air. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport also previously inspected the safety and maintenance management of the national company’s B737 Max 8. The Max 9 is 3.24 m longer than the Max 8, so it can accommodate around 30 more seats and is has more cargo capacity.
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