Boeing faces escalating feud with Lion Air over plane crash

Boeing is facing unusually public criticism from a major customer, Lion Air, as the two try to minimize fallout from a fatal crash. Accident investigators are months away from determining the precise cause of the Oct. 29 crash that killed 189 people when the new Boeing 737 MAX 8 plunged into the Java Sea. Lion Air on Monday said it had reached a deal with a Dutch marine company to resume searching for the plane’s cockpit voice recorder. Initial information pointing to potential maintenance, operation and design issues, however, has escalated a spat that exceeds typically private finger-pointing following a major airliner accident. “I’m very disappointed with the way Boeing has behaved,” Lion Air co-founder Rusdi Kirana said. He has openly pondered whether to cancel Lion Air’s orders for more than 200 planes, nearly all of them 737 MAXs, in a deal valued at more than $20b based on list prices. It is unclear how feasible that action would be but it is a stark turnaround from 2011 when he called the plane “the future of Lion Air,” at an event in Bali attended by then-President Obama. When investigators released an interim report about a month after the crash, Boeing drew attention to possible maintenance deficiencies at the Indonesian budget carrier, noting the report indicates maintenance performed in the days before the fatal flight failed to fix problems with the jet. Boeing also highlighted that the crew on the jet’s penultimate flight faced similar issues, but managed to successfully complete their flight. “The problem is not the maintenance,” Kirana said. “The problem is not in the operation. The problem is that Boeing didn’t make a proper manual.” Story has more details and background.<br/>