Alaska Airlines has already received $160 million in compensation from Boeing for the occurrence and fallout from a mid-flight exit door blowout on a 737 MAX 9 jet.
Boeing Pays Alaska Airlines $160 Million In Initial Compensation
On January 5, 2024, Alaska Flight 1282 took off from Portland, Oregon (PDX). Shortly after takeoff, a “plugged” rear mid-cabin emergency exit door on the 737-9 MAX separated from the aircraft minutes after takeoff, triggering a rapid decompression event. An emergency was declared and the aircraft returned to Portland.
In the aftermath of that incident, Alaska Airlines was required to ground its entire fleet of 737 MAX-9 jets. The impact of that grounding and more passengers booking away from Alaska due to safety concerns pushed the carrier from projected profit to loss in the first quarter.
However, per an SEC filing, Boeing has provided $160 million in direct compensation to Alaska Airlines, which offsets the lost profits attributable to the 737 MAX 9 problem. Additional compensation will be provided, but the terms of it will be kept confidential:
This cash payment is equivalent to the lost profits resulting from the accident and grounding in Q1 2024. Additional compensation is expected to be provided beyond Q1, the complete terms of which are confidential.
Other carriers, including United Airlines which is the largest operator of 737 MAX 9 aircraft in the world, expect (or are already in receipt) of compensation from Boeing as well.
A Wakeup Call For Boeing
Let me say this to Boeing: did it really pay to cut corners or use cheap contractors? Did you really think that in the end you would just make more money and all would be fine? I hope the hundreds of millions of dollars in compensation Boeing has paid and will pay will cause it to embrace a very different business model going forward in which it realizes that putting safety first is not only the right thing to do it, but also maximizes profit…
image: NTSB
Skilled labor is not cheap … Cheap labor is not skilled .
Unskilled labor is not cheap, either. Expensive labor can be unskilled.
@derek … perhaps airplane manufacturing requires proven , supervised , actual engineering skills , to go along with the compensation . Similar to those who constructed Lindbergh’s airplane , yes ?
You will not find any airplane manufacturing skill amongst Brandon’s imported labor from the third world .
Since you brought up ‘Brandon’ with your asinine comment, I feel the need to point out that FAA approval of the MAX-9 happened under the Dotard’s watch.
Also I think you’re flat wrong. It does appear, in fact, that the most talented airplane building labor at the moment is outside the US!
Obviously, since Alaska is one of Boeing’s best customers…and pay them off…and for getting rid of their Airbus…