Around 33,000 machinists who work on the best-selling 737 MAX jet, as well as the 767 and 777 widebodies, have been on strike since Sept. 13, demanding a 40% wage increase and the restoration of a defined-benefit pension they lost a decade ago for a 401(k) retirement plan.

Boeing’s U.S. West Coast factory workers accepted a new contract offer on Monday, ending a bitter seven-week strike that halted most jet production and deepened a financial crisis at the troubled planemaker.

The union said members voted 59% in favor of the new contract, which includes a 38% pay rise spread over four years, easing pressure on new Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg after two previous offers were voted down in recent weeks.

The end of the first strike in 16 years by Boeing’s largest union provides welcome relief for a company that has lurched from one setback to the next since a door panel blew off a near-new 737 MAX plane in mid-air in January.

Boeing will now take weeks to ramp up plane production and boost cash flow, with 737 MAX output expected to languish in the single digits per month for some time, according to two people briefed on the matter, far short of the 38 a month targeted before the strike.

Workers can start returning to building planes from Wednesday, the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) said, although Boeing has warned that some people will have to be retrained due to the prolonged period away from the factory floor.

The strike was costing Boeing around $100 million a day in lost revenue, analysts said, prompting the planemaker to raise $24 billion from investors last week in a bid to preserve its investment-grade credit rating.

Boeing has said the average annual machinists’ pay at the end of the new four-year contract will be $119,309, up from $75,608 previously.

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The issue, identified during a routine post-flight inspection, affects the thrust link component on multiple test aircraft.

The problem first emerged on the third 777-9 test aircraft, WH003, following a flight from Hawaii on August 16. Subsequent inspections revealed cracks in the thrust link structure on other 777-9 test planes.

Boeing confirmed the discovery reported by The Air Current. The company plans to resume flight testing once the problem is resolved.

This setback could potentially impact the 777X program’s timeline and certification process. The thrust link, crucial for transferring engine thrust to the aircraft’s structure, plays a vital role in the plane’s performance and safety.

Boeing shared this update with the FAA on Monday (August 19, 2024).

There are around 481 orders from various airlines across the globe for Boeing 777X.

These developments compound Boeing’s challenges, potentially impacting the 777X’s certification and delivery timeline. The company had previously scheduled deliveries for 2025, already five years behind the original plan.

FAA Mandates 787 Inspection

In a separate development, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has mandated inspections for Boeing 787 Dreamliners following a LATAM Airlines (LA) incident in March 2024. The mid-air dive, caused by an unexpected captain’s seat movement, injured over 50 passengers.

The FAA directive impacts 158 U.S.-registered and 737 (not the type) other 787 Dreamliners, encompassing models 787-7, 787-9, and 787-10.

Airlines must inspect captain and first officer seats within 30 days for specific defects and implement necessary corrective actions.

The Airlines awaiting Boeing 777X deliveries may need to reassess their fleet plans, while those operating 787s must allocate resources for immediate inspections and potential repairs.

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Boeing has provided NASA with the second core stage of the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket. Built at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility (MAF), the core stage is designed to send the Artemis II crew to lunar orbit for the first time in 50 years.

The Boeing-built rocket stage, which is the largest component of the Artemis II mission, will be loaded onto the Pegasus barge and transported 900 miles to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center.

Once there, it will be integrated with the other Artemis II components, including the upper stage, solid rocket boosters, and NASA’s Orion spacecraft inside the Vehicle Assembly Building. This integration is a crucial step in preparation for the Artemis II launch, scheduled for 2025.

The delivery of Core Stage 2 signifies a major achievement in the development of the SLS rocket. This core stage, measuring over 200 feet tall and powered by four RS-25 engines, alongside two solid-fueled booster rockets, will provide the 8.8 million pounds of necessary thrust to propel Artemis II and future missions into space.

SLS is the only rocket capable of carrying crew and large cargo to the moon and beyond in a single launch. Its unmatched capabilities will deliver human-rated spacecraft, habitats, and science missions to the moon, Mars and beyond.

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The mission was only supposed to last eight days, yet almost a month after their departure, Barry Wilmore and Sunita Williams are still in space.

The Boeing Starliner’s spacecraft in which they were traveling accumulated problems.

Takeoff was delayed twice due to a faulty valve and then a helium leak.

On June 5, the ship was finally able to take off but the problems continued. Thrusters failed and other helium leaks were detected. Since then, 4 of the 5 propellers have been repaired but the leaks continue.

The astronauts’ return to earth has been postponed several times.

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This move comes just weeks after Boeing faced scrutiny for its interactions with the FAA prior to the 737 MAX fatalities.

According to the NTSB, Boeing violated its agreement as a party to the investigation by sharing confidential information with the media during a press briefing on June 25th. This agreement prohibits disclosing details not yet verified by the NTSB and offering opinions on potential causes.

Sanctions Imposed

For this breach of trust, the NTSB has imposed several sanctions on Boeing. The company will no longer receive updates on the investigation’s progress, even though it retains NTSB’s official party status. 

Additionally, Boeing is required to appear at a hearing on August 6th and 7th in Washington D.C. However, unlike other participants, they will be barred from asking questions.

The NTSB emphasized their primary objective of determining the root cause of the incident, not assigning blame to any individual. This stands in contrast to Boeing’s alleged portrayal of the investigation during their media briefing, which the NTSB claims focused on finding a single culprit.

This highlights the ongoing challenges surrounding the B737 MAX program and raises questions about Boeing’s commitment to transparency during safety investigations. The NTSB’s decision to collaborate with the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Fraud Division further underscores the seriousness of the situation.

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Two US astronauts are set to be left on the International Space Station (ISS) for a fortnight longer than expected.

Boeing Starliner’s return to Earth from the International Space Station with its first crew of astronauts has been pushed back to June 26.

NASA astronauts Barry “Butch” Wilmore and Suni Williams were launched aboard Starliner on June 5 and arrived at the ISS.

However, their arrival followed a 24-hour flight in which the spacecraft encountered four helium leaks and five failures of its 28 manoeuvring thrusters.

NASA’s commercial crew program manager Steve Stich told a news conference the new delay of the return of Starliner is intended “to give our team a little bit more time to look at the data, do some analysis and make sure we’re really ready to come home.”

Starliner’s first flight with astronauts is a crucial last test in a much-delayed and over-budget program before NASA can certify the spacecraft for routine astronaut missions and add a second US crew vehicle to its fleet, alongside SpaceX’s Crew Dragon.

Officials from Nasa and Boeing say they plan to analyse the vehicle over the coming days before starting preparations for the return journey.

Stich said: “So far, we don’t see any scenario where Starliner is not going to be able to bring Butch and Suni home.”

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In an email to Boeing’s South Carolina employees on April 29, Scott Stocker, who leads the 787 program, said a worker observed an “irregularity” in a required test of the wing-to-body join and reported it to his manager.

“After receiving the report, we quickly reviewed the matter and learned that several people had been violating Company policies by not performing a required test, but recording the work as having been completed.”

No planes have been taken out of service, but having to perform the test out of order on planes will slow the delivery of jets still being built at the final assembly plant in North Charleston, South Carolina.

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On the morning of Jan. 26, as two Alaska Airlines flights from Seattle to Hawaii departing six minutes apart experienced a tail strike.

The pilots of each flight felt a slight bump and the flight attendants at the back of the cabin heard a scraping noise. As the noses of both Boeing 737s lifted skyward on takeoff, their tails had scraped the runway.

Both planes circled back immediately and landed again at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. The incident grounded both flights and forced a temporary shutdown of Alaska’s flight activity nationwide.

Horrifyingly, investigators have now discovered that a software glitch was responsible for the incident. According to the Seattle Times, the tailstrikes occurred largely as the result of a bug in a program sold by a Swedish firm called DynamicSource.

The program is supposed to deliver “crucial weight and balance data” that pilots enter into their flight computers to help determine stuff like “how much thrust the engines will provide and at what speed the jet will be ready to lift off.”

The data [delivered] was on the order of 20,000 to 30,000 pounds light. With the total weight of those jets at 150,000 to 170,000 pounds, the error was enough to skew the engine thrust and speed settings.

Both planes headed down the runway with less power and at lower speed than they should have. And with the jets judged lighter than they actually were, the pilots rotated too early.

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U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s Boeing had a mechanical issue in Paris on Wednesday. He was due to to the NATO meeting in Belgium.

The incident forced the delegation to drive from Paris to Brussels for a meeting of NATO alliance foreign ministers, a State Department spokesperson said.

On a previous trip to Europe in January, Blinken was briefly stranded in the Swiss resort town of Davos due to an issue with his plane due to oxygen leak back in January made flying too risky.

The US State Department refrained from mentioning the make of plane. But according to sources, it affected aircraft is a modified Boeing 737.

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The aircraft sustained damage to its engine, resulting in the cancellation of the flight. Preliminary visual evidence indicates that the aircraft may have inadvertently entered a parking area designated for ground crews, reported Aviacioncivil.

Luckily, no reported injuries have resulted from this incident thus far. Further, the airline released an official statement regarding the incident through its Instagram account.

The airline wrote, “Air Routes of Venezuela, S.A. (RAVSA) firmly rejects any comments made regarding the incident involving our aircraft at Las Americas International Airport in the Dominican Republic. We are actively working to resolve this situation promptly and provide the best possible service to all our passengers.”

Two Airbus A330s collided

Japan’s transport ministry says two passenger jets appear to have collided near a taxiway at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport on Saturday.

Winglet of the wing of the Thai Airways plane looks to be broken, and what appears to be fragmented can be seen near the runway.

Thai Airways Airbus A330-300 (reg. HS-TEO) and Eva Air Airbus A330-300 (reg. B-16340) clipped wings when Thai flight #TG683 for Bangkok taxied alongside stationary flight #BR189 for Taipei before line-up on runway 16R at Tokyo-Haneda Airport, Japan.

Further, the Tokyo airport office has sent officials to the site to investigate. Subsequently, Japan Airlines and All Nippon Airways say some of their domestic and international flights have been delayed.

Also, Read, BREAKING Four children have been found alive in Amazon jungle 40 days after plane crash (airlive.net)

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As a result, the engine emitted debris through the exhaust, which landed in the village of Meerssen, causing injuries to two people and property damage to houses and cars. The flight crew shut down the engine and landed safely at Liège Airport in Belgium.

The Dutch Safety Board classified the incident as serious because of the chance of an accident. This is because the falling debris ended up in a village and caused the injury, reported onderzoeksraad.nl.

That injury could have been much more serious. By the Dutch Safety Board Kingdom Act and European Regulation No. 996/20102, the Dutch Safety Board investigated this serious incident.

Report by the Dutch government

The Dutch Safety Board investigated the risk posed to individuals on the ground following concerns raised by residents through letters and emails.

The concerns centered on the safety of the residents after injuries and property damage occurred as a result of the incident above. Residents rely on the government to manage risks associated with the Maastricht Aachen Airport for their safety.

The airport is perceived as unsafe due to its location between residential areas and its use for commercial air transport services, including flights with heavy cargo aircraft. The incident has further exacerbated the residents’ sense of insecurity.

As per ICAO Annex 13 guidelines, the survey included the following organizations: the Dutch Safety Board, which represented the country where the incident occurred.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) represented the country of design and manufacture of the Boeing 747 and the Pratt & Whitney PW4056 engine type.

In addition, the NTSB has appointed designated representatives and advisors to Boeing Commercial Airplanes, Pratt & Whitney, and the United States Federal Aviation Administration.

The British civil aviation investigation body, the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB), represented the airline’s country and the country of registration and appointed an authorized representative and advisor from the airline Longtail Aviation.

The report is in Dutch, and it states the various reasons why it occurred and what led to this failure. They have included data from the engine manufacturers and also added the readings.

Also, Read REPORT Midair Collision between Cirrus SR22 and Metroliner caused by high speed turn – AIRLIVE

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The giant aerospace companies have a duopoly in commercial aviation. They are always compared with each other. Both published the final March results yesterday. The first quarter went well for them.

Boeing Quarter Report

Boeing has surpassed Airbus by delivering 130 jets during the first quarter of 2023, compared to Airbus’ 127.

This marks the first time since 2018 that Boeing has outperformed its European rival. This achievement signifies a positive turn of events for Boeing, as aircraft production has returned to normalcy following several years of disruption.

The first quarter deliveries of 2023 increased by almost 27% compared to the previous year, in which only 95 aircraft were delivered.

In March 2023, Boeing delivered 64 aircraft, with 53 being Boeing 737 MAX. This is an improvement from March 2022, when only 41 aircraft were produced. Southwest Airlines and United Airlines each received 12 Boeing 737 MAX aircraft in March.

Moreover, Boeing received 60 new aircraft orders in March, with only 22 cancellations. Most deliveries comprised the Boeing 737 family, with 113 out of the 130 737 family aircraft. Boeing’s Seattle Everton factory is expected to produce 31 737 jets monthly.

Despite experiencing a slowdown in January and February due to a pause in the delivery of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Boeing was still able to deliver 11 Dreamliners.

Boeing resumed its deliveries in the middle of March and delivered 7 Dreamliners that month. In addition to these, Boeing also delivered one 747 aircraft, one 767 freighter aircraft to Federal Express (FX), and four 777s.

Airbus A220-300 at Farnborough Airshow. Photo: © Jakob Wert

Airbus Quarter Report

During the first quarter of 2023, Airbus delivered 127 aircraft, marking a 9% decline compared to the same period in 2022. The reduction in Airbus deliveries was partly attributed to engine shortages for its short-haul Airbus A320neo family aircraft.

However, Airbus plans to increase production at its Tianjin, China assembly facility from four aircraft per month to six after renovating it to manufacture the A321 aircraft.

Airbus received more orders than Boeing, with 142 orders after cancellations, as opposed to Boeing’s 38 demands. Boeing’s order book included 40 charges of 737 MAX aircraft and 20 787 aircraft.

Boeing experienced some cancellations, including 16 MAXs and six 787 aircraft. Nevertheless, it succeeded in selling its first 737 MAX aircraft to Japan Airlines in late March, beating out Airbus with its Airbus A320neo aircraft bid.

Japan Airlines (JL) announced its intention to purchase 21 737 MAX aircraft, with deliveries expected to begin in 2026. In the past two months, Boeing has received commitments for over 200 787 Dreamliners from Air India & Riyadh Air.

Bottom Line

Airbus plans to deliver 720 jets in 2023, while Boeing plans to have 400 737 MAX jets and 70 787s.

Although Boeing is on track to exceed its 737 MAX delivery goal, it will need to increase production of the 787 Dreamliner to deliver 70 aircraft. This represents an increase from the 480 planes born in 2021.

Also, Read Iceland-based startup Niceair cancels flights and suspends operations – AIRLIVE.

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