Facing severe criticism after a door plug blew out on a 737 Max over Oregon this month, Boeing said Monday that it is withdrawing a request for a safety exemption needed to certify a new model of the plane. The company asked federal regulators late last year to allow it to begin delivering its 737 Max 7 airliner to customers even though it does not meet a safety standard designed to prevent part of the engine housing from overheating and breaking off during flight. But after a door panel blew out on a different version of the plane — a Max 9 — leaving a gaping hole in the fuselage of an Alaska Airlines flight out of Portland, Oregon, on Jan. 5, the company’s quality control and commitment to safety have been questioned. Last week, Democratic Sens. Maria Cantwell, chair of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, and Tammy Duckworth, chair of its aviation safety subcommittee, urged the Federal Aviation Administration to deny the request. Boeing said Monday it would withdraw it. “While Boeing never should have sought this exemption to put another new aircraft with a known safety defect into service in the first place, I’m both relieved and appreciative that they are putting the flying public’s safety first by withdrawing this petition,” Duckworth, of Illinois, said in an emailed statement. “I hope this decision marks the beginning of a turnaround in Boeing’s safety culture.” In its announcement, the company said it was “committed to being transparent, listening to all our stakeholders and taking action to strengthen safety and quality at Boeing.”<br/>
general
New York State's comptroller has asked Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun to explain how it is handling its current crisis in the wake of a door plug blowout on its 737 MAX 9 aircraft early this month, according to a letter on Monday seen by Reuters. The comptroller's office oversees the state's pension system, which held a 0.16% stake in the US planemaker at the end of September 2023. In his letter, New York Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli asked Calhoun to detail the steps taken by the company, thus far, to "ameliorate" immediate quality and safety issues as well as the longer-term reforms needed to prevent a repeat. DiNapoli also asked about the role of Boeing's board in overseeing the current crisis. "How will you restore confidence among your customers and the flying public?" he wrote. Boeing did not immediately respond to a request for comments. The company, long a symbol of America's manufacturing prowess, is in the crosshairs of regulators, politicians and airlines following the Jan. 5 incident, which is under investigation.<br/>
The head of the world's largest aircraft lessor AerCap dismissed calls for leadership changes at Boeing and said the planemaker is under no illusion about what needs to be done in the wake of a door plug blowout on a Boeing 737 MAX 9. "I don't think that's helpful at all. Do we really think someone else comes in tomorrow and is going to be able to just all of a sudden (perform) magic overnight?" AerCap CE Aengus Kelly told Reuters of calls by some analysts for leadership changes. "I think knee-jerk reactions would be ill-advised at this point, but they know what to do....They know what has to be fixed but knowing it and fixing it are two different things. Kelly was speaking in an interview on the sidelines of the Airline Economics conference, the first major industry gathering since the Jan. 5 mid-flight scare on an Alaska Airlines jet that raised questions over quality controls. However, he added that every plane that leaves Boeing factories has to be flawless and cautioned another incident would make the 737 MAX a "very hard sell". "They're under no illusions about the severity of the situation. And every, every single thing that goes out the door there just has to be spot on."<br/>
One of the aircraft industry's most influential leaders believes Boeing will face a heavier regulatory backlash if there are further production snags such as the one suspected of causing a door plug blowout on an Alaska Airlines 737 MAX 9 jet. If there is one more significant problem "the FAA will stop (737) production", Air Lease Executive Chairman Steven Udvar-Hazy told reporters at the Airline Economics conference in Dublin on Monday, referring to the FAA. However, he played down concerns of a systemic problem, saying the incident was contained to the Renton plant outside Seattle where the plane was assembled. The FAA and Boeing were not immediately available for comment. Investigators are probing whether bolts were missing or wrongly fitted when the airplane was delivered just eight weeks before the Jan. 5 blowout that led to a partial grounding. The FAA last week took the unusual step of capping Boeing 737 production at current levels.<br/>
Ireland-based SMBC Aviation Capital and Canada's CDPQ will create a $1.5b aircraft financing and leasing firm, the companies said on Monday, to tap into red-hot demand for commercial aircraft. The new company, to be called Maple Aircraft Co Holdings, will target an initial deployment of $500m per year, with SMBC sourcing the transactions. Further details were not disclosed. Aircraft lessors are gaining from higher rental revenues as a shortage of commercial jets due to supply snags forces airlines to lease airplanes to take advantage of a boom in travel demand. On Monday, the executive chairman of Air Lease Corp warned at an industry conference that broader supply challenges hurting aerospace production would continue. SMBC Aviation capital has an owned, managed and committed fleet of over 900 aircraft. Established in 2001, the company was acquired in 2012 by a consortium comprising Japan's SMFG and Sumitomo Corp.<br/>
Airlines face years of plane shortages, driving up costs and setting the stage for higher fares, as increased oversight in the wake of a Boeing 737 MAX 9 cabin blowout exacerbates delays caused by weak supply chains, industry officials said. The warning came as aircraft lessors, bankers and airlines met in Dublin - home to a booming global air finance sector - for the first time since the Alaska Airlines incident on Jan. 5 led to a partial grounding and pushed Boeing into a new safety crisis. For months, aviation has been struggling to keep pace with a post-pandemic travel boom amid labour and parts shortages.<br/>But widespread outrage over the near disaster that led to an emergency landing with a gap in the side of an aircraft, but no major injuries, has added a new layer of regulatory risk. "Demand is more or less a slam dunk; the question is when does the supply catch up?" Rob Morris, head of global consultancy at Ascend by Cirium, told Reuters as delegates gathered for the week-long Airline Economics conference. "We have estimated 2026 or 2027, but there must be a risk on the downside now because of the MAX." The FAA last week took the unusual step of ordering Boeing to stop increasing 737 MAX production until quality control concerns highlighted by the discovery of loose bolts in the fleet were addressed.<br/>