What is going on with Boeing?

About 50 people on a flight from Sydney, Australia to Auckland, New Zealand were treated by paramedics after a Boeing plane had a “technical event” that caused the plane to temporarily nosedive midflight. Passengers were reportedly thrown from their seats to the top of the plane in an instant. It’s the latest in a string of safety and mechanical issues facing the U.S. aircraft manufacturer, which has seen its stock drop about 20% this year.

Southwest Airlines has told investors that it will reevaluate its financial forecasts and will cut capacity because of Boeing’s delivery issues. The airline was expecting 58 Boeing 737 Max 8 planes this year, but is now being told it may only get 46.

Boeing has been on a tough run this year. On the first weekend of 2024, an Alaska Airlines 373 Max suffered a catastrophic failure after a door-plug ripped away from part of the plane’s fuselage after takeoff, leaving a hole in the cabin.

The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is investigating this, and several other Boeing safety issues, and recently announced that the company has not delivered any documentation that shows it has taken steps to ensure the door-plug issue has been fixed.

Boeing says the documents the NTSB is requesting do not exist but did release a statement last week saying it continues to "implement immediate changes and develop a comprehensive action plan to strengthen safety and quality and build the confidence of our customers and their passengers."

After the Alaska Airlines incident, the U.S. government and FAA called for a temporary nationwide grounding of certain Boeing jets and launched congressional investigations and even a criminal probe.

Other problems facing the American company include safety issues flagged by the FAA over de-icing equipment on 737 Max and 78 Dreamliner jets, and United Airlines pilots reporting that their flight controls were jammed during landing in Newark, New Jersey.

Boeing says it is working on the issues brought forward by the NTSB and FAA, and has until May to submit a plan to fix its production problems. “We are squarely focused on taking significant, demonstrated action with transparency at every turn,” the company said in a statement. Until then, the FAA has limited its manufacturing output.

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