Text / Modern Logistics News all-media reporter Jia Aosheng
On May 11, according to CCTV financial reports, a Boeing 737 plane of United Airlines encountered flap failure after taking off from Fukuoka Airport in Japan, so it urgently returned home.
(Source: Xinhua News Agency)
In addition, on May 9, at the airport in Dakar, Senegal's capital, a Boeing 737-300 passenger plane lost control and rushed off the runway during takeoff in the early morning of the 9th. Part of the fuselage, engines and wings of the aircraft were damaged, and a fire broke out.
A Boeing 737 passenger plane of Turkey's Crayton Airlines had a flat front tire when it landed at the southern airport on May 9, but there were no casualties, and the 190 people on board were safely evacuated.
Four accidents in three days!
On the same day, China's first self-developed long-range wide-body passenger aircraft, the C929, also made new progress. Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China is currently actively promoting the airworthiness preparation of the C929 and plans to submit an application for type certificate to the Civil Aviation Administration by the end of this year.
Frequent accidents have caused Boeing to fall into a crisis of confidence
Boeing, a global aerospace giant, has a long history. Since its founding in 1916, Boeing has not only created numerous firsts in civil and military aviation, but its innovations and technological breakthroughs have advanced the entire aviation industry.
However, in recent years, Boeing aircraft accidents have been frequent.
Boeing aircraft accidents since 2024 (as of May 13)
On January 5, 2024, a Boeing 737MAX 9 of Alaska Airlines had to make an emergency return to Portland International Airport due to the detachment of the embedded emergency exit.
On March 7, a United Airlines Boeing 777-200 lost its tires shortly after taking off from San Francisco International Airport and had to change its route to make a forced landing, which led to the temporary closure of a runway at San Francisco International Airport.
On March 8, a United Airlines Boeing 737 MAX aircraft slipped out of the runway when it landed at Houston's George Bush Intercontinental Airport, fortunately causing no injuries.
On March 19, another United Airlines Boeing 757 had a cracked wing during flight and had to make an emergency landing.
Musk, the CEO of SpaceX, made a "mockery" of Boeing on X in March this year: passengers can bring screwdrivers and other tools on board to help repair the plane.
Admittedly, after so much coverage of the accident, a large group like Boeing cannot avoid the shaking of public trust in it.
Public information shows that on April 17, Salepul, a quality engineer who has served Boeing for 17 years, said at a congressional hearing that Boeing could reduce the safety and life cycle of the 787 Dreamliner by "taking shortcuts" to increase production speed, and while Boeing denied prioritizing production speed over safety and quality, the allegations and investigations have reinforced the conviction that one of the oldest aircraft manufacturers in the United States has lost its way.
The death of the two whistleblowers is questionable
On March 9, John Barnett, a 62-year-old former Boeing employee who repeatedly exposed Boeing's manufacturing problems, was found dead in his truck parked in the hotel parking lot on the day he was questioned, and the medical examiner reported that the 62-year-old died of apparent "self-inflicted injuries."
As Boeing continues to face product quality disputes, Joshua Dean, a quality auditor at Spirit AeroSystems and a former supplier to Boeing, died of a sudden illness on April 30 at the age of 45. The death of Joshua Dean once again pushed Boeing to a climax of public opinion.
According to a May 1 report by the Seattle Times, his family said that about two weeks ago, Joshua Dean was hospitalized for breathing difficulties. His condition deteriorated, and he was diagnosed with drug-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and eventually died.
It is worth mentioning that Dean was one of the first to discover the potentially dangerous flaws in the Boeing 737 Max jet.
Dean's family said that when doctors performed a bronchoscopy of his lungs, it was found that his lungs were filled with a large number of bacteria, which led to kidney failure and eventually his death.
As the second whistleblower to receive widespread attention for exposing the Boeing problem, his unexpected death has sparked great public concern. The deaths of two whistleblowers in a row cast a shadow over Boeing.
Dean's mother, Virginia Green, has requested an autopsy in order to reveal the reason behind Dean's unexpected death, but it could take months to get results.
Boeing freighters occupy the majority of China's air cargo
Even if Boeing has so many accidents, it does not affect the fact that it provides 90% of the world's air cargo capacity.
In China's cargo aviation market, express companies have become a big customer of Boeing, thanks to the increasingly fierce pursuit of their own cargo planes by express delivery companies after the epidemic.
Boeing Cargo Aircraft in China some logistics companies orders are not fully counted
It is understood that the cargo planes purchased by SF Airlines, China Post Airlines, YTO Airlines, Jingdong Airlines and other enterprises are all Boeing aircraft. China Post was the first express company to enter the air cargo market, but in terms of volume, SF Airlines has always been at the top of the list. As of March 2024, SF Airlines has 87 all-freighter aircraft in operation, with an all-freighter fleet consisting of Boeing 747, 767, 757 and 737 aircraft.
(Source: SF Airlines)
According to forecasts released by Boeing, China will need a large number of new civilian aircraft, including cargo planes, in the next 20 years. This shows that Boeing has a huge potential business opportunity in China's air cargo market.
In Boeing's 2022 Commercial Aircraft Market Outlook (CMO), Boeing predicts that the number of commercial aircraft (excluding regional turboprops) in service worldwide will nearly double over the next 20 years. By 2041, the total fleet size will grow from 25,900 aircraft in 2019 to 47,080 aircraft, with about 42% of new aircraft delivered to airlines in the Asia-Pacific region, with China accounting for half of them.
China's C919 came out, and the United States and Europe refused to issue airworthiness
For a long time, China's aircraft industry has lacked self-developed large passenger aircraft. On May 28, 2023, China's self-developed C919 large passenger aircraft successfully flew from Shanghai to Beijing Capital International Airport, completing its first commercial flight, an event that became an important milestone in the development of China's aviation industry.
(Source: Xinhua News Agency)
The first flight of the C919 passenger aircraft was successful, but European and American countries refused to issue airworthiness certificates on the grounds that "the mainland's subsidies to C919 are unduly disrupting the market order", which caused certain restrictions on the international operation of C919.
In fact, Europe and the United States also know that all processes of C919 from design and manufacturing to flight test and mass production meet strict standards.
If C919 wants to go abroad to run international routes, the airworthiness certificate issued by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) is the most important, which can be recognized by most countries around the world.
C919 aircraft orders (according to incomplete statistics, as of May 13, orders have approached 1,500)
Against the backdrop of the U.S. government's hype of the so-called "China threat", it is surprising that in an interview with the American media, Boeing CEO Calhoun first spoke highly of the performance of the C919 aircraft and pointed out that it will take time for Chinese companies to meet the relevant production standards. He then turned to the topic of monopolies, emphasizing that the global market is huge and expanding, and that there are three major suppliers in the civil aviation sector, so "it should not be the biggest concern for people, and it is not necessary to worry too much".
The purpose of this statement is undoubtedly to recognize the Chinese market and show that the development of the C919 has been successful, but it will take some time to consolidate the market, and in this time, it is an excellent time for Boeing to continue to expand its own market.
Refusal to issue airworthiness certificates, what are Europe and the United States afraid of? Obviously, China's large aircraft are not allowed to eat the market. Even if the United States and Europe join forces to "encircle and suppress" the newborn C919, it will not be able to stop domestic aircraft from going abroad after all. At present, Russia, Brazil, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and other countries have agreed to issue airworthiness certificates to C919. It is foreseeable that in the near future, China's large aircraft, through continuous improvement and innovation, will become another business card to show China, just like China's high-speed rail.