The crash of a Boeing 787 passenger jet in India minutes after takeoff on Thursday is placing the highlight again on a beleaguered producer although it was not instantly clear why the airplane crashed.
The Air India 787 went down within the northwestern metropolis of Ahmedabad with greater than 240 individuals aboard shortly after takeoff, authorities mentioned. It was the primary deadly crash because the airplane, often known as the Dreamliner, went into service in 2011, in accordance with the Aviation Security Community database. Boeing shares fell more than 4% in afternoon buying and selling.
The 787 was the primary airliner to make intensive use of lithium ion batteries, that are lighter, recharge quicker and may maintain extra vitality than different sorts of batteries. In 2013 the 787 fleet was quickly grounded due to overheating of its lithium-ion batteries, which in some circumstances sparked fires.
737 Max
The Max model of Boeing’s best-selling 737 airplane has been the supply of persistent troubles for Boeing after two of the jets crashed. The crashes, one in Indonesia in 2018 and one other in Ethiopia in 2019, killed 346.
The issue stemmed from a sensor offering defective readings that pushed the nostril down, leaving pilots unable to regain management. After the second crash, Max jets have been grounded worldwide till the corporate redesigned the system.
Final month, the Justice Division reached a deal to permit Boeing to avoid criminal prosecution for allegedly deceptive U.S. regulators concerning the Max earlier than the 2 crashes.
Worries concerning the airplane flared up once more after a door plug blew off a Max operated by Alaska Airways, main regulators to cap Boeing’s manufacturing at 38 jets per 30 days.
Monetary woes
Boeing posted a loss of $11.8 billion in 2024, bringing its complete losses since 2019 to greater than $35 billion.
The corporate’s monetary issues have been compounded by a strike by machinists who assemble the airplanes airplane at its factories in Renton and Everett, Washington, which halted manufacturing at these services and hampered Boeing’s supply functionality.
For the primary three months of 2025, Boeing reported a narrower lack of $31 million in contrast with the earlier yr. CEO Kelly Ortberg mentioned Boeing made progress on stabilizing operations through the quarter.
Orders and deliveries
The stepped-up authorities scrutiny and the employees’ strike resulted in Boeing’s plane deliveries sliding final yr.
Boeing mentioned it equipped 348 jetliners in 2024, which was a 3rd fewer than the 528 that it reported for the earlier yr.
The corporate delivered less than half the variety of business plane to clients than its foremost rival Airbus, which reported delivering 766 business jets in 2023.
Nonetheless, Boeing’s troubles haven’t turned off airline clients from shopping for its jets. Final month the corporate secured big orders from two Center Jap clients. The offers included a $96 billion order for 787 and 777X jets from Qatar, which it mentioned was the most important order for 787s and vast physique jets within the firm’s.
