The CEO of United Airlines said he is \u201cdisappointed\u201d in the recent problems from Boeing that have led to the grounding of many United planes and said the airline will consider new options in the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Scott Kirby <\/a>said Boeing needs \u201creal action\u201d to restore its reputation and that he has spoken with Dave Calhoun,<\/a> Boeing\u2019s CEO, to express his frustration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWell, look, you know, we\u2019re Boeing\u2019s biggest customer in the world. They\u2019re our biggest partner in the world,\u201d Kirby said in an interview with CBNC<\/a>. \u201cWe need Boeing to succeed \u2026 but they\u2019ve been having these consistent manufacturing challenges and they need to take action together.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Boeing has faced intense scrutiny since the start of the year as the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) launched an investigation and ordered the grounding of nearly 200 Boeing 757 Max 9 aircraft after a door panel blew off an Alaska Airlines plane midflight in early January.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The FAA announced Monday<\/a> that another Boeing aircraft uses similar door plugs and recommended airlines check their fleets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Kirby said Calhoun agrees real action is necessary, but right now, as the investigations into the Max aircraft continue, Kirby is \u201ca lot more interested\u201d in what Boeing will do after.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBut on the backside of this, what are the real actions to really get the manufacturing process back to the high levels of quality, consistency that historically existed,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Alaska and United Airlines, two of the U.S. airlines that fly Boeing aircraft, along with American Airlines and Southwest Airlines, have experienced mounting delays, cancelations and issues since grounding the planes<\/a> to inspect for loose bolts in door panels. They each have reported finding loose bolts on some Max 9 planes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n United announced Monday that it will lose money in the first quarter of the year after dealing with the groundings. It expects to lose between $0.35 and $0.85 per share but is confident it will recover to earn a full-year profit, The Associated Press reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Kirby said he is disappointed in the Boeing error but is confident the planes will be safe to fly in soon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWell, I\u2019m disappointed. First, I would say on the Max, is that when it\u2019s flying, I\u2019m 100 percent sure it\u2019ll be safe. We have a pretty good handle on what happened,\u201d he said, adding the Chicago-based airline tech operations team has worked around the clock to remedy the issue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe FAA, to their credit, has been in there with us in the weeds, on weekend, late nights,\u201d Kirby said. \u201cSo, I think we\u2019re near the end game on that and the airplane will be safe but I\u2019m disappointed that the manufacturing challenges do keep happening at Boeing. This isn\u2019t new.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Kirby said the Max 9 grounding is \u201cthe straw that broke the camel\u2019s back\u201d and the company is going to build a plan that doesn\u2019t have future Max models. He said he will continue work with Boeing but \u201cwill wait and see\u201d if it\u2019s necessary to consider working with a new manufacturing company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Stan Deal, the president and CEO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes, said in a statement on Tuesday that the company is \u201cdeeply sorry\u201d to their airline customers, employees and passengers for the \u201csignificant disruption.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe are taking action on a comprehensive plan to bring these airplanes safely back to service and to improve our quality and delivery performance,\u201d Deal\u2019s added. \u201cWe will follow the lead of the FAA and support our customers every step of the way.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n