Air travel is safe _ and trusted by the American flying public _ because aircraft manufacturers, airline operators and government regulators all perform at very high levels. The same is generally true in many other countries.
Chicago-based Boeing, one of the world's leading technology companies and the largest U.S. exporter, ripped a gigantic hole in the fabric of international air travel by mishandling the development and rollout of a new aircraft. Two of its 737 Max jetliners crashed in less than five months, killing a total of 346 people in Indonesia and Ethiopia.
The 737 Max was supposed to be one of the most advanced and reliable (read: safe) planes in the sky. Perhaps that will turn out to be true, but the aircraft has been grounded since March. Boeing this week said it would suspend production in January as the company works to prove to the Federal Aviation Administration and foreign regulators that the 737 Max deserves to fly again.
Boeing is so enormous that the production shutdown could create a noticeable drag on the U.S. economy. The company has orders for about 5,000 Max jets and has built 400 at its Renton, Wash., plant that it hasn't delivered. Airlines _ including United, Southwest and American _ are counting on the 737 Max. They've been forced to rejigger schedules and cancel flights.
Boeing had said it would get the 737 Max back in the sky by the end of 2019 but that won't happen. The company's shares have taken a major hit and CEO Dennis Muilenburg was stripped of his additional title of chairman.
A front-page New York Times news story described Boeing's situation as "the worst crisis in its 103-year history." If that's an exaggeration it's only slightly so, reflecting the devastating blow to Boeing's reputation: Here is the great American manufacturer, creator of the 747 and other fabulous planes, struggling to convince regulators its new jet is airworthy.
The two fatal crashes, involving new 737 Max jets flown by Lion Air and Ethiopian Airlines, occurred in similar fashion during good weather, suggesting a glitch with sophisticated software: An automated anti-stalling program known as MCAS, or Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System, apparently steered the planes into sharp dives.
Boeing needs to fix the software and assuage the regulators, but problems with MCAS may run deeper in the company's culture. There are questions about whether Boeing hurried the development process and properly explained MCAS to airlines, pilots and regulators, among other possible failings.
All of those issues will have to be addressed satisfactorily for the 737 Max to be recertified to fly. Then Boeing and its airline customers will face another tough task: convincing passengers that the plane is safe to board.
It's easy for passengers in Chicago and around the globe to feel good about Boeing, and to embrace the miracle of flight _ until something goes terribly wrong. At which point Boeing's struggle to regain the flying public's full trust begins anew.
