The Justice Department has begun a criminal investigation into Boeing after a panel on one of the company’s planes blew out on an Alaska Airlines flight in early January, a person familiar with the matter said. The airline said it was cooperating with the inquiry. “In an event like this, it’s normal for the D.O.J. to be conducting an investigation,” Alaska Airlines said in a statement. “We are fully cooperating and do not believe we are a target of the investigation.” Boeing had no comment. On Jan. 5, a panel on a Boeing 737 Max 9 jet operated by Alaska Airlines blew out in midair, exposing passengers to the outside air thousands of feet above ground. There were no serious injuries resulting from that incident, but it could have been catastrophic had the panel blown out minutes later, at a higher altitude. The panel is known as a “door plug” and is used to cover a gap left by an unneeded exit door. A preliminary investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board suggested that the plane may have left Boeing’s factory without the plug bolted down. The Justice Department has previously said it was reviewing a 2021 settlement of a federal criminal charge against the company, which stemmed from two fatal crashes aboard its 737 Max 8 plane. Under that agreement, Boeing committed to paying more than $2.5b, most of it in the form of compensation to its customers. The Justice Department agreed to drop the charge accusing Boeing of defrauding the FAA by withholding information relevant to its approval of the Max. It was not immediately clear if the criminal investigation was related to the review of the 2021 settlement or a separate inquiry. The deal was criticized for being too lenient on Boeing and for having been reached without consulting the families of the 346 people killed in those crashes. The first occurred in Indonesia in late 2018. After the second in Ethiopia in early 2019, the Max was banned from flying globally for 20 months. The plane resumed service in late 2020 and has since been used in several million flights, mostly without incident — until the Alaska Airlines flight on Jan. 5. Story has more.<br/>
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Qantas Airways said Monday that it is adjusting its schedule for a couple of days this week to mitigate any operational disruptions arising from a new planned strike by the pilots at its units. The airline expects that most customers will reach their destinations on the same day as their bookings, utilising a mix of Qantas-owned and third-party aircraft. Pilots at Network Aviation and QantasLink units will begin a new strike this week, as they persist in demanding higher pay, the Australian Federation of Air Pilots (AFAP) said in a statement on Monday. The pilot groups are attempting to negotiate a new enterprise deal to replace the Network Aviation Pilots Enterprise Agreement 2016, which expired in October 2020. Pilots at QantasLink and Network Aviation are set to halt work on Thursday and Friday, the AFAP said. A hearing between the parties is also scheduled at Australia's Fair Work Commission on March 14 and 15, aiming to reach a settlement over a dispute that has persisted for nearly two years. The union and the airline have been negotiating for over 18 months, during which the pilots have rejected three deals, including an offer of a pay increase of more than 25% and subsequent 3% annual increases. <br/>