United Airlines Reports $200 Million Earnings Hit Due to Boeing 737 MAX 9 Grounding

(CTN News) – United Airlines has blamed Boeing for a $200 million (£161 million) drop in earnings during the first three months of this year.

Alaska Airlines had to ground its Boeing 737 MAX 9 fleet for three weeks due to a mid-air cabin rupture on a flight in January.

United claimed this resulted in a pre-tax loss of $164 million for the first quarter.

The airline stated that it “would have reported a quarterly profit” otherwise.

However, the loss was lesser than Wall Street predicted, and United’s stock increased by more than 5% following the announcement.

United’s fleet includes 79 Boeing 737 MAX 9s, more than any of its competitors and second only to Alaska Airlines.

United and Alaska were forced to cancel thousands of flights in January while checks were carried out before the US aviation regulator permitted the planes to fly again.

The BBC contacted Boeing for comment on United’s announcement.

Earlier this month, Boeing paid $160 million to Alaska to compensate for losses.

United informed investors that delays in Boeing plane delivery had an impact on its operations as well.

“We’ve adjusted our fleet plan to better reflect the reality of what the manufacturers are able to deliver,” United’s chief executive Scott Kirby stated.

A whistleblower disclosed safety concerns about Boeing’s plane manufacturing to US regulators, putting the company under new pressure.

Engineer Sam Salehpour accused Boeing of taking shortcuts while building the 787 and 777 jets.

He claimed he was “threatened with termination” after raising issues with managers.

However, Boeing 737 dismissed the charges as “inaccurate” and stated that it was confident in the safety of its aircraft.

Mr Salehpour is scheduled to be a key witness in a US Senate hearing on April 17.

On January 5, an Alaska Airlines 737 Max 9’s door plug blew off shortly after takeoff, scaring passengers and prompting an emergency return to the Portland, Oregon airport.

The latest incident has generated new concerns about the safety of Boeing’s aircraft.

The business came under strong investigation following two disastrous 737 Max 8 passenger jet crashes in 2018 and 2019, which killed 346 people.