Boeing faces new turbulence after Air India crash

The crash of an Air India Boeing 787 Dreamliner, which killed at least 260 people, including several on the ground , has once again put the American aircraft manufacturer in the spotlight at a time when it is reporting progress after a deep crisis and just days before a major international trade fair near Paris.

"In a week, there will probably be one or two operational hypotheses about what happened," commented Nicolas Owens, an analyst at Morningstar, noting that investigations into air accidents generally last "several months."

The market reaction was clear on Thursday: shares fell more than 4% on the New York Stock Exchange. Shares of GE Aerospace, which manufactured the two engines of the crashed jumbo jet, fell more than 2%. But Nicolas Owens believes the crash shouldn't prevent Boeing from securing orders at Le Bourget next week for the 787 Dreamliner, which entered service in 2011.

The Air India plane, which was carrying 242 people, had been in operation since early 2014. This is the first fatal crash of the 787 family. "It's very unlikely that people will conclude that there is a systemic problem with the engine or the plane," the analyst predicted.

Richard Aboulafia, director of the aerospace consulting firm AeroDynamic, agrees, noting that there is no indication of a design problem. "It's a tragedy, but it's unlikely to affect the perception of the 787 because we don't know anything at this point, and it has a very good track record," he explained.

The aircraft manufacturer quickly pledged to support the investigation. "We are in contact with Air India regarding Flight 171 and stand ready to support them," it said.

"Our deepest condolences to the loved ones of the passengers and crew on board Air India Flight 171, as well as to everyone affected in Ahmedabad," Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg later said in a separate statement. He said he had spoken with Air India president Natarajan Chandrasekaran "to offer him our full support" and assured that he had a team "ready to assist the investigation" led by Indian authorities.

Before this accident, he was preparing to boast to the aeronautics world at the industry's major gathering about Boeing's progress in cleaning up its production. At the end of May, Kelly Ortberg welcomed the recent green light from the US aviation regulator (FAA) to increase the monthly production rate of the 787 Dreamliner to seven, up from the current five. His goal is to reach ten monthly.

The ramp-up of production of this model, as well as the single-aisle 737 MAX—Boeing's best-selling aircraft—is part of the company's strategy to return to a healthy trajectory. The company was plunged into an existential crisis after an in-flight incident in January 2024 involving an Alaska Airlines 737 MAX 9.

This was the latest in a series of quality and compliance issues on Boeing aircraft, and the first serious one since the 737 MAX 8 crashes in 2018 and 2019 (346 deaths in total). Both aircraft had been delivered shortly before. The manufacturer acknowledged that the MCAS anti-stall software, which had a design flaw, had been a factor.

The Dreamliner has also encountered some setbacks since entering service, mainly due to manufacturing and inspection defects. Eight 787s were temporarily grounded in the summer of 2020, and more than 100 undelivered aircraft required remanufacturing that had just been completed.

The plane was also the subject of a US Senate hearing in April 2024 when a whistleblower alleged manufacturing defects in the 787 and the 777, Boeing's other large jet.