Boeing 737 Max groundings spread as airlines respond to the jet’s midair blowout

In the unlikely event of an emergency… Aviation icon Boeing came under renewed pressure on Friday after a plug door blew off one its 737 Max 9 aircraft at 16K feet. No one was seriously injured on the Alaska Airlines flight, which landed safely, but there’s already been plenty of fallout. On Saturday, the FAA ordered the temporary grounding of 171 of the 737 Max planes. As of yesterday, Alaska and United Airlines had canceled a combined 500 flights. Aeromexico, Copa Airlines, and Turkish Airlines all pulled their 737 Maxes from service.

• Tray tables up: Boeing stock descended yesterday by nearly 7%. Spirit AeroSystems — which made the body (aka: fuselage) of the Boeing jet — saw its shares sink too.

Maxed-out issues… The recent blowout on the three-month-old 737 Max 9 wasn’t the jet design’s first problem. Last month Boeing asked airlines to check for loose bolts on the planes, and last year mis-drilled holes and bad fittings were spotted. In 2018 and ’19, faulty sensors caused older 737 Maxes to nosedive, killing 346 people in two crashes. In response the FAA grounded the model for 20 months. In 2021, Boeing agreed to pay $2.5B to settle a criminal investigation into the crashes, and all told the incidents cost the biz $20B+. But Boeing’s rep eventually recovered, with Air India ordering 190 737 Maxes last year (FYI: Boeing is paid on delivery of an aircraft).