Airlines group chief backs Boeing CEO to fix safety crisis

Boeing's CEO Dave Calhoun is the right person to lead the company out of its latest safety crisis, after a panel blew out of a 737 MAX 9 plane in flight last month, the head of the world's biggest airline trade body said on Monday.<br/>Boeing has come under fire from regulators, lawmakers and some airline bosses after the Jan. 5 incident on an Alaska Air flight sparked broader concerns over its manufacturing practices. International Air Transport Association (IATA) Director General Willie Walsh said that while some in the industry were angry after the blow-out, Calhoun and his leadership team had done well to take responsibility and commit to finding solutions. "Boeing are taking the right measures. I think they've responded much, much better to this than other events," Walsh told Reuters on the sidelines of an industry summit in Singapore. "I've heard people say you need a change in leadership. I disagree ... I'm confident that he (Calhoun) will fix it." Walsh said he didn't expect Boeing's safety problems to result in airlines ordering fewer of the manufacturer's planes or prompt passengers to avoid booking tickets with airlines that use the 737 MAX 9 aircraft. Walsh was speaking a day before the start of the Singapore Airshow, Asia's largest aviation event, where there is a buzz around the first trip outside Chinese territory for China's homegrown passenger jet, the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China's (COMAC) narrow-body C919.<br/>