United Airlines blamed Boeing for a $200 million (£161 million) drop in earnings during the first three months of the year. The carrier had to ground its Boeing 737 MAX 9 fleet for three weeks after its door blew out mid-air during an Alaska Airlines flight in January. United Airlines stated that the incident resulted in a pre-tax loss of $164 million for the first quarter. The airline asserted that it “would have reported a quarterly profit” otherwise.
However, the loss was smaller than projected by Wall Street, and United Airlines’ shares rose by more than 5% following the announcement.
United Airlines has 79 Boeing 737 MAX 9s in its fleet, more than any of its rivals.
United Airlines and Alaska Airlines canceled thousands of flights in January while the planes were inspected before receiving authorization from the US aviation regulator to resume flying.
Boeing’s never-ending difficulties
Earlier last month, Boeing paid Alaska $160 million to cover the airline’s losses. Speaking with investigators, United Airlines stated that its operations were also impacted by delays in Boeing plane delivery.
“We’ve adjusted our fleet plan to better reflect the reality of what the manufacturers are able to deliver,” said United’s chief executive Scott Kirby, in a statement.
Boeing has faced heat after a whistleblower disclosed safety concerns about the jets’ production to US officials.
Engineer Sam Salehpour has accused Boeing of using shortcuts in the production of its 787 and 777 aircraft.
He said that he was “threatened with termination” after expressing identical concerns to top officials.
However, Boeing responded that the charges were “inaccurate” and that it was confident in the safety of its jets.
On January 5, an Alaska Airlines 737 Max 9’s door plug burst off shortly after takeoff, terrifying the passengers and forcing an emergency landing at the Portland, Oregon, airport.
