Boeing has forked over a hefty $160 million to Alaska Airlines as a mea culpa for a mishap that occurred on one of its 737 Max 9 jets, as confirmed by Alaska Airlines today. The cash serves as "initial compensation" after a panel blew out mid-flight back in January, raising eyebrows across the aviation industry. The payment aims to cover the carrier's pretax losses, which include lost revenue and expenses for getting its Max 9 fleet back in the air after a forced three-week chill on the tarmac.
The airline, which detailed the compensation in a regulatory filing, is anticipating more moola from Boeing, although the specifics are tightly under wraps, OPB reports. The January scare went down when a panel, designed to cover an extra emergency exit, took leave of a Max 9 soaring 16,000 feet over the Oregon landscape. The skilled pilots managed a safe landing, with passengers kept out of harm's way.
Boeing's silence on the payout speaks volumes, offering no immediate comment on the situation. However, the fiscal sting seems to echo through the company's pocketbook, as Boeing's CFO Brian West hinted last month at "customer consideration" following the incident, which he admitted would impact Boeing's bottom line, though he stopped short of attaching any numbers to his admission, according to The Seattle Times.
Meanwhile, the drama has taken a legal twist. The Justice Department is sizing up whether this flub contravenes the terms of a 2021 settlement in which Boeing skated on criminal charges by pledging not to deceive regulators again, after prior accusations of misleading during the Max jets' certification, Oregon Live highlighted. This latest dance with danger has also parked Alaska's estimated earnings in the red zone, with the airline projecting a loss ranging from $1.05 to $1.15 per share for Q1 – a chilling, 95 cents of which it blames squarely on the January jolt.
