How Boeing’s Existential 737 MAX Crisis Unfolded

The company has lost one of its biggest customers and is now the subject of a federal criminal probe—and that was just last week.

By Eric Gardner, More Perfect Union

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), the government agency overseeing the investigation into why a door blew off a Boeing 737 MAX at 16,000 feet during an Alaska Airlines flight in January, said it could not confirm who performed the door plug repair because the company had overwritten video footage from the repair facility. 

“The absence of those records will complicate the NTSB’s investigation moving forward,” Jennifer Homendy, chair of the agency, wrote in a letter to the Senate updating the Commerce Committee on the investigation’s progress. At a March 6 Senate hearing, Homendy called the company’s lack of cooperation “absurd.” 

The news is the latest development in Boeing's years-long quality crisis, seemingly made worse at every turn by Boeing management. Since the start of the deadly 737 MAX crashes, which have killed 346 people, executive statements and actions have evolved from outright hostility towards regulators into statements of contrition and actions of obfuscation. 

In October 2019 Congressional testimony, former CEO Dennis Muillenberg said that grounding the planes was premature and that a series of minor software fixes and increased training could fix the 737 MAX. In private, management ignored whistleblowers' pleas to stop production, and insiders sent emails describing the plane as “designed by clowns” and “supervised by monkeys.”

The NTSB is looking to interview the Boeing employees who worked on the door that blew off the 737, not to punish them, but rather to “learn more about Boeing’s quality-assurance processes and safety culture.” But Boeing claims it has no record of the repair being performed, so the company cannot provide any information. In early January, the agency asked to speak with the door crew manager but was told the worker was on medical leave. The agency followed up twice in February, but was told “he would not be able to provide a statement or interview to NTSB due to medical issues.” 

In February, the NTSB found that Boeing failed to install four key door bolts in the Alaska Airlines jet in its Renton, Washington factory. Early indications suggest that the root cause of the error stems from the company’s use of traveled work.

Manufacturing airplanes is incredibly complex, with thousands of moving parts. Planes travel through stadium-sized factories, stopping at various stations where specialized crews and equipment complete the required steps. The process is tightly choreographed, and if material or equipment is missing, production stops, causing delivery delays. Boeing earns most of its income when it delivers planes—so delivery delays also mean payment delays.

With traveled work, the airplanes move along the production line without the missing part. Often, the part is installed outside the factory without a specialized station. 

“It’s something you want to avoid, but you gotta move that airplane out of that position because another one is coming,” Jon Holden, the head of IAM, the union representing 32,000 Boeing employees, told the Wall Street Journal. Ultimately, the NTSB found that the bolts were never installed, causing the door to blow out and the cabin to depressurize. Union pilots successfully landed the plane with no injuries.

The MAX scandal has made headlines, highlighting the decline of a once-great manufacturer due to financialization. In hindsight, however, it’s clear that the conception of the MAX plane was faulty from the start.

Is it time to nationalize Boeing? Watch our new video here:

Below is a timeline of Boeing’s MAX miscues and the tragic consequences, expanding on previous efforts by the Seattle Times and Union College to document Boeing’s troubles. 

July 20, 2011: American Airlines split a massive airplane order between Airbus and Boeing. Airbus offered newer, more fuel-efficient planes, and rather than designing a new plane from the ground up, Boeing decided to compete and save millions by retrofitting the 737, a plane designed in the 1960s.

Dec 8, 2015: The first fuel-efficient retrofitted 737, the MAX, rolls out of the factory.

March 13, 2017: The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) certifies the 737 MAX to fly. Certification involves ground and laboratory testing, establishing that the plane is safe for commercial use.

October 29, 2018: A Lion Air flight of a 737 MAX crashes and kills all 189 people on board. Later, it was revealed that the plane’s crash was caused by a malfunction in its Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS). The MCAS system was designed to avoid a costly hardware redesign, and hidden from regulators to avoid pilot retraining. 

October 2018: Initial coverage blames Lion Air and Indonesian pilots. Future reporting by Bloomberg reveals that company executives helped push the narrative.

March 10, 2019: An Ethiopian Airlines flight of a 737 Max flight crashes and kills all 157 on board. The MCAS system malfunctioned, causing the plane to nose dive.

March 2019: International Air regulators ground the 737 Max; the Trump FAA is one of the last to do so.

April 30, 2019: Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenberg blames pilots for the 737 Max crashes at the company’s annual shareholder meeting.

December 23, 2019: Boeing fires CEO Dennis Muilenberg

November 18, 2020: The FAA approves the 737 Max back into service. As part of the approval, Boeing and airlines agree to additional training and maintenance requirements. 

January 7, 2021: DOJ charges Boeing with conspiracy to defraud the FAA, saying the company “impeded the government’s ability to ensure the safety of the flying public.” The company settles the charges by agreeing to pay families $2.5 billion; in exchange, the DOJ agrees to a deferred prosecution, allowing executives to avoid criminal prosecution.

January 27, 2021: Regulators in the European Union declare the Boeing 737 MAX is safe for service.

July 15, 2021: The FAA orders Boeing to inspect cabin sensors. The Agency found that the sensors' failure rate was much higher than anticipated, which could result in pilots not receiving enough oxygen at high altitudes.

November 10, 2021: Boeing admits full responsibility for 737 Max plane crash in Ethiopia.

December 2021: Whistleblowers allege fundamental safety and oversight problems to Congress,

September 7, 2022: FAA finalizes new aircraft certification rules brought on by the aftermath of the MAX crashes.

September 22, 2022: Boeing pays $200 million to settle charges that it misled investors about 737 MAX statements. 

August 23, 2023: Boeing and Spirit Aerosystems find quality defects in key parts–delaying deliveries.

January 5, 2024: During an Alaska Airlines flight, a door plug blows out of a Boeing 737 MAX plane. Despite losing all cabin pressure, union pilots safely land the plane.

January 6, 2024: The FAA grounds some Boeing 737 MAX planes.

January 12, 2024: FAA announces 737 MAX production line audit.

January 23, 2024: United Airlines CEO blames Boeing’s decline on the financially focused culture brought on by the 1997 merger with McDonnell Douglass.

January 24, 2024: The FAA limits Boeing's production of 737 MAXs, forcing the company to focus on safety. 

February 6, 2024: An NTSB preliminary report finds that the Alaska Airlines door panel was missing four key bolts. 

March 1, 2024: Spirit Aerosystems, a major Boeing supplier and previously a subsidiary, reported to be in talks about a merger.

March 4, 2024: FAA six-week audit concludes. Boeing fails 33 of 89 audits.

March 6, 2024: NTSB says Boeing has provided an “absurd lack of cooperation” on its investigation.

March 7, 2024: Boeing redesigns its annual employee bonuses to prioritize quality and safety. Under the new formula, quality and safety metrics constitute 60 percent of an employee’s bonus. Previously, financial metrics constituted 75 percent of a bonus. 

March 8, 2024: 737 MAX rudder jams during landing, prompting a new NTSB investigation.

March 9, 2024: The WSJ reports the DOJ has opened a criminal investigation into Boeing for violating the May 2022 deferred prosecution agreement. 

March 11, 2024: United Airlines pauses Boeing orders, temporarily switching to rival Airbus.