CHICAGO (NewsNation) — In the wake of several Boeing incidents and problems over the past few months, airline passengers have become more apprehensive about which aircraft they book flights.
Travelers have voiced their safety concerns in news interviews and on social media platforms like TikTok, with several users posting videos using the caption, “If it’s Boeing, I’m not going.”
The American plane maker has been under intense pressure since early January when a door plug blew off a brand-new Alaska Airlines 737 Max midflight over Oregon.
This spotlighted a torrent of manufacturing issues that have piled up for Boeing over the years — including two devastating crashes that also involved Max jets (one in Indonesia in 2018 and the other in Ethiopia the following year).
Boeing 737 Max problems: What’s going on?
Boeing has faced scrutiny over its quality control and safety standards since the January incident. All Boeing 737 Max 9s were grounded for three weeks after the door plug blew off an Alaska Airlines Max jetliner.
Investigators say bolts that help keep the panel in place were missing after repair work at the Boeing factory.
After the door plug incident, Boeing’s CEO Dave Calhoun said the company acknowledged its mistakes and was working with authorities to investigate exactly what happened.
But that hasn’t been the only incident for Boeing. There have been multiple incidents and close calls since Alaska Airlines.
The latest incident occurred earlier this month.
A Southwest Airlines flight safely returned to Denver International Airport on April 7 after a removable piece of metal that covers the engine fell off and struck a wing flap during takeoff, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
The Boeing 737-800 plane was departing for William P. Hobby Airport in Houston at around 8:15 a.m. local time when the engine cowling fell off. It was the fourth time a Boeing plane has had to divert to Denver for issues so far this year.
Amid the controversy, Calhoun announced his resignation, saying he was stepping down by the end of the year.
Calhoun was on the Boeing board during its worst time — the crashes of two 737 Max planes in 2018 and 2019 that killed 346 people. He leaves with the company under intense scrutiny from regulators and lawmakers.
What is the problem with the Boeing 737 aircraft?
A recent audit by the FAA revealed “multiple instances” of Boeing and its key supplier failing to ensure manufacturing met quality standards.
The FAA reviewed Boeing’s 737 factory near Seattle and gave the company failing grades on nearly three dozen aspects of production. The company now has until late May to give the FAA an improvement plan.
In the meantime, the federal agency is limiting production of 737s.
The U.S. Justice Department also launched a criminal investigation into whether the panel blowout on the Alaska Airlines plane violated terms of a 2021 settlement, which allowed Boeing to avoid prosecution for allegedly misleading regulators during the certification of the 737 Max.
Boeing’s most significant effort to improve quality has been opening discussions about bringing Spirit AeroSystems, which builds fuselages for the Max and many parts for that and other Boeing planes, back into the company.
Mistakes made at Spirit, which Boeing spun off nearly 20 years ago, have compounded the company’s problems. Bringing the work of the supplier back in-house would, in theory, give Boeing more control over the quality of manufacturing key airplane components.
Calhoun said the two companies were making progress in talks “and it’s very important.”
Spirit said in a statement confirming the talks this does not mean that a sale is a done deal.
However, aviation travel remains the safest form of transportation in the U.S. The National Safety Council estimates that Americans have a 1-in-93 chance of dying in a motor vehicle crash, while deaths on airplanes are too rare to calculate the odds. Figures from the U.S. Department of Transportation tell a similar story.
“This is the safest form of transportation ever created, whereas every day on the nation’s roads about a 737 full of people dies,” Richard Aboulafia, an aerospace analyst and consultant, told The Associated Press.
While it’s been 15 years since the last deadly crash involving a U.S. airliner, concerns persist. A panel of experts reported in November that a shortage of air traffic controllers, outdated plane-tracking technology and other issues presented a growing threat to safety in the sky.
Not just Boeing’s fault
It’s worth noting that Boeing isn’t to blame for every single flight issue that’s made headlines.
Investigations into some of the incidents suggest maintenance lapses and many near misses are attributed to errors by pilots or air traffic controllers.
For instance, a United Boeing 737 landing in Oregon earlier this month was found to have a piece of aluminum skin missing. Unlike the Alaska Airlines jet involved in the panel blowout, the United aircraft was 26 years old. Maintenance falls under the responsibility of the airline.
‘If it’s Boeing, I’m not going’ trend
Popular TikToker @gracietravels expressed the same frustration in a video that’s been viewed more than 1.4 million times on the app.
“I realized that my plane next week was on a Boeing 737-9 Max. So, I immediately — and I mean immediately — canceled this and changed it to another flight because I will make sure I will never fly on another Boeing again,” she said in the March 15 video.
Not everyone agreed with taking this approach, however. Many called it an “overreaction” and “fear-mongering,” while others pointed out air travel is still safer than driving.
The TikToker isn’t the only one ditching the air carrier.
A former senior manager at Boeing’s 737 factory previously told “NewsNation Now” that he specifically avoids flying on Max airliners due to safety concerns.
“I fly all the time. And even I schedule myself away from a Max,” said Ed Pierson, a former manager at Boeing’s facility in Renton, Washington.
Pierson said he’s even walked off planes after learning they’re a Max.
“They swapped the planes at the last minute, and I walked on the plane, sat down, and realized it’s a Max. I got up and walked off the plane,” said Pierson. “I didn’t take that flight.”
Which airlines don’t use Boeing 737?
While Alaska Airlines, Allegiant Air, American Airlines, United Airlines and Southwest Airlines have Boeing aircraft in their fleet, some companies don’t, according to Alternative Airlines.
U.S. Airlines that don’t use Boeing 737:
- Frontier Airlines
- Avelo Airlines
- Hawaiian Airlines
- JetBlue
- Spirit Airlines
- Sun Country Airlines
Delta Air Lines is among those airlines that don’t currently use the carrier; however, the company does have 100 orders for the aircraft model which is expected to be delivered in 2025.
How to avoid Boeing 737 Max planes
By booking flights online, travelers can weed out any Boeing aircraft.
Alternative Airlines launched a new tool customers can use to automatically remove flights operated by all Boeing 737 Max planes.
Kayak, a travel booking website, touts a feature allowing people to filter out certain aircraft models when trying to find flights.
A Kayak spokesperson told NewsNation that the website saw a “15X increase” in the use of the filter in the days following the Alaska Airlines door plug incident.
Because of this “spike in usage,” Kayak moved its filter up, making it “more prominent” for travelers when they’re searching for flights. In addition, the spokesperson said, the company gave users the ability to filter specifically by the 737 Max 8 and Max 9 aircraft models.
“KAYAK makes it easy for concerned travelers to avoid 737 Max flights,” Steve Hafner, KAYAK CEO, said in a statement, though he cautions that “airlines do often substitute equipment — so travelers should double check before departure.”
The feature was first introduced by Kayak in 2019 after an Ethiopian Airlines crash involving the Boeing 737 Max 8 that killed 157, according to Business Insider. A representative for Kayak Boeing told the publication back then that the company had gotten requests to make the filters more “granular.”
Google Flights will also let people see what kind of model the plane on their selected flight is, among other information.
The Associated Press and NewsNation’s Cassie Buchman contributed to this report.