Alaska Airlines receives ‘initial’ $160M from Boeing after mid-flight panel blowout — additional compensation ‘expected’



Boeing paid Alaska Airlines $160 million following the mid-flight door panel blowout incident that occurred earlier this year, the airline stated on Thursday.

In a recent United States Securities and Exchange Commission filing, Alaska Airlines reported that Boeing provided the "initial compensation ... to address the financial damages incurred as a result of Flight 1282 and the 737-9 MAX groundings."

In January, Flight 1282 experienced a mid-air door panel blowout that forced the plane to make an emergency landing. Multiple investigations were launched as a result of the incident. The Federal Aviation Administration briefly grounded 171 Max 9 airplanes while inspections were underway, causing thousands of flight cancelations.

A preliminary report from the National Transportation Safety Board found that all four bolts designed to secure the panel in place were missing from the aircraft. Records revealed that before the plane was delivered to Alaska Airlines, it underwent rivet repairs that required the panel to be temporarily removed and reinstalled upon completion. The repair work was completed by Spirit AeroSystems, a former Boeing subsidiary, before the aircraft was returned to Boeing's Renton, Washington, facility.

The NTSB continues to investigate the incident. The Department of Justice also launched its own investigation.

Alaska Airlines' SEC filing stated that the company lost approximately $160 million in the first quarter of 2024 due to the mandatory grounding of some of its Boeing planes.

"As a result of the Flight 1282 accident and the Boeing 737-9 MAX grounding, we lost approximately $160 million in Q1 pretax profit, primarily comprising lost revenues, costs due to irregular operations, and costs to restore our fleet to operating service," the airline wrote.

Boeing paid Alaska Airlines the compensation in cash during the first quarter.

"This cash payment is equivalent to the lost profits resulting from the accident and grounding in Q1 2024. Additional compensation is expected to be provided beyond Q1, the complete terms of which are confidential," it added.

Boeing referred to statements made last month by CFO Brian West when contacted for comment, ABC News reported. During the Bank of America Industrials Conference, West remarked that there will be "customer consideration that is going to manifest itself in the quarter."

"We've got to take care of that and we're well down the road to do that. And we continue to stand behind our customers with that responsibility," West added.

The mid-flight panel blowout ignited a safety scandal for Boeing, prompting a management shake-up. In February, Boeing removed Ed Clark, the head of its 737 Max program. In March, it announced that CEO Dave Calhoun would leave the company at the end of the year. Boeing Commercial Airplanes CEO Stan Deal announced his immediate retirement last month. Larry Kellner, board chairman, is set to resign and not seek re-election in May.

Last week, Calhoun stated, "The eyes of the world are on us, and I know that we will come through this moment a better company."

"We will remain squarely focused on completing the work we have done together to return our company to stability after the extraordinary challenges of the past five years, with safety and quality at the forefront of everything that we do," he said.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Boeing is ‘unable to find records’ for repairs made to Alaska Airlines plane — security footage ‘overwritten’: NTSB



Boeing is “unable to find records” for the repairs made to the Alaska Airlines plane that experienced a mid-flight exit door panel blowout earlier this year, the National Transportation Safety Board told the Senate Commerce Committee on Wednesday, the New York Post reported.

NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy wrote a letter to Senators Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) and Ted Cruz (R-Texas) confirming that Boeing had failed to provide documentation for the September work to the aircraft, which involved removing and reinstalling the door plug to perform rivet repairs.

“To date, we still do not know who performed the work to open, reinstall, and close the door plug on the accident aircraft,” Homendy wrote. “Boeing has informed us that they are unable to find the records documenting this work.”

In addition to failing to provide records of the repairs, the airplane manufacturer also says that the security camera footage from its facility in Renton, Washington, where the rivet work took place, has been erased, according to the NTSB.

“A verbal request was made by our investigators for security camera footage to help obtain this information; however, they were informed the footage was overwritten,” Homendy added.

Homendy explained that the NTSB has been unable to speak with the facility’s door crew manager because, at the advice of his attorney, he cannot provide a statement “due to medical issues.” She noted that the lack of records and security footage would further complicate the government agency’s investigation into the incident.

“Boeing gave NTSB names of individuals who may provide insight regarding the work performed to open, reinstall, and close the door plug in September 2023,” she noted.

Homendy stated that she called Boeing Chief Executive Officer David Calhoun to request the names of all the employees who performed the door plug work.

“He stated he was unable to provide that information and maintained that Boeing has no records of the work being performed,” her letter to the senators read.

Boeing said in a statement last week that it has cooperated with the NTSB’s requests for information regarding the ongoing investigation. The company also implied that it lacked documentation for the September repair work.

“With respect to documentation, if the door plug removal was undocumented there would be no documentation to share,” Boeing stated.

Repair records must be retained in the event documentation needs to be provided to auditors and investigators, according to regulatory requirements.

The NTSB’s preliminary report revealed that the exit door plug may have been missing all four bolts that secured it in place before the aircraft was delivered to Alaska Airlines.

“I have become increasingly concerned that the focus on the names of individual front-line workers will negatively impact our investigation and discourage such Boeing employees from providing NTSB with information relevant to this investigation,” Homendy told the senators, noting that the agency is not seeking the names of the employees for punitive purposes.

Boeing explained that the security footage that captured the repair work was overwritten because the facility’s camera systems maintain footage on a rolling 30-day basis.

“We will continue supporting this investigation in the transparent and proactive fashion we have supported all regulatory inquiries into this accident. We have worked hard to honor the rules about the release of investigative information in an environment of intense interest from our employees, customers, and other stakeholders, and we will continue our efforts to do so,” Boeing said in a statement, the Post reported.

The Alaska Airlines plane that experienced the panel blowout, which forced the pilots to make an emergency landing, was scheduled for maintenance later that same evening, according to the New York Times.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Airplanes will KEEP BREAKING if we don't abandon THIS

Airplanes will KEEP BREAKING if we don't abandon THIS

Airplanes will continue breaking if we don't abandon THIS



On January 5, Boeing secured a place in the spotlight again when a door plug fell off an Alaska Airlines jet mid-flight.

The company has gone from the poster child of engineering to a company facing possible bankruptcy, and author Porter Stansberry believes the downward spiral is due to two major decisions.

First, Stansberry notes that Boeing switched its focus from engineering to “financial engineering,” and then the company fully embraced ESG.

“Boeing’s planes began falling out of the sky as a result,” Stansberry writes.

The company isn’t just taking a hit when it comes to quality, but with its finances as well.

The cumulative net income of the company over the last three years is negative $20 billion, and the company has $52 billion now in total debt. In addition, Boeing’s interest expense is a whopping $2.5 billion a year.

The company’s chief operating officer is Stephanie Pope, who has zero engineering background.

“Now, why would someone with this kind of background be placed in charge of operations in the world’s leading aerospace engineering firm? Maybe it’s because she is the executive sponsor of Boeing’s Women Inspiring Leadership,” Stansberry explains.

The group is dedicated to “increasing gender diversity awareness.”

“Boeing’s planes keep falling apart,” he writes. “These outcomes are the results of years and years of bad ideas — starting with the intentional destruction of Boeing’s engineering culture, followed by the GE-style financial engineering, and now the company’s full embrace of modern Marxism — ESG.”

Glenn Beck is in 100% agreement with Stansberry, noting that this destruction won’t just come for airplanes.

“Until our government gets away from this craziness, America’s republic will keep falling out of the sky,” he says.


Want more from Glenn Beck?

To enjoy more of Glenn’s masterful storytelling, thought-provoking analysis, and uncanny ability to make sense of the chaos, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.