Boeing’s plane turmoil Maymake summer travel worse

Once the pride of American aviation, Boeing keeps making headlines for all the wrong reasons. A little more than five years ago, two of its new 737 Max planes crashed as a result of a flaw in its flight-control software, killing 346 people. Since then, a series of chief executives have struggled to regain the trust of both the public and regulators amid a drumbeat of criticism over safety, profit and how the company balances the two.

In the aftermath of another incident—in this case a panel blowing off of a Boeing 737 Max plane in January—US officials ordered a limit on the aircraft’s manufacturing. While intended to focus Boeing on safety, the move has put a major dent in the production of new planes—with thousands already on back order. While Boeing Chief Executive Officer Dave Calhoun says the company has changed since the January mishap, things could get decidedly inconvenient for the flying public. In this Bloomberg Originals mini-documentary, we explain how this state of affairs could fill your summer airport experience with frustration.

With very little slack in the system, more airlines are flying older planes for longer—which means more maintenance issues, fewer flights and more delays. And it’s not just Boeing’s troubles you have to worry about. Airlines that fly jets made by its main competitor, Airbus, will have to pull hundreds out of service to fix a potential flaw in the engines.

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