As aviation and specifically Boeing have been increasingly criticised this year, many people have started questioning whether flying is safe and if they should or should not get on their next flight, especially if the plane is a Boeing.
1. 2024 recap
One of the first breaking news of this year was a plug-in door blowing out mid-air on a Boeing 737 Max 9 during an Alaska Airlines flight. The incident happened on 5 January and was followed by a grounding by the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) of all 737 Max 9s with the plug-in door configuration.
In the follow-up investigation of the Alaska Airlines blow-out, it has been revealed that Alaska Airlines pilots had flagged depressurisation problems on previous flights operated on the same plane, which had been ignored. More worryingly, the FAA has found loose bolts and even misdrilled holes in some aircraft’s fuselage. In the last update, the FAA gave Boeing 90 days to “must develop a comprehensive action plan to address its systemic quality-control issues to meet FAA’s non-negotiable safety standards.”
Other Boeing models have also been facing problems. The windshield of a 777 cracked on 28 February and earlier this year, the nose wheel of a 757 just fell off and rolled down the runway at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. Yet another wheel fell off a 777-200 on 7 March, damaging several cars in San Francisco. On 4 March, the engine of a 737 burst into flames only minutes after take-off and, on the morning of 11 March, a Latam Airlines flight operated on a 787-9 Dreamliner suddenly lost altitude about one hour before reaching its destination, sending passengers flying through the cabin.
Meanwhile, a former Boeing employee was found dead in his car while he was in the middle of testifying in court in a whistleblower case against the company. And, while CEO Dave Calhoun has announced he will be stepping down at the end of the year, President and Chief Executive Officer of Boeing Commercial Airplanes, Stan Deal, has announced his retirement and has already been replaced in the role by Stephanie Pope, “effective today” (25 March).
Most recently, the FAA has initiated a safety probe on United Airlines, as most of the accidents of this year involved United aircraft, while the FBI is allegedly investigating the Alaska Airlines incident as a crime.
2. Is flying still safe?
Although it might seem like flying is getting out of hand, the answer to “Is flying still safe?” is yes. Commercial flying remains the safest mode of transportation, flying safety having reached “best ever” results in 2023, according to IATA.
Robert Sumwalt, a former chairman of the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has said that the increasing worries are partly due to increased exposure. “What I believe we have is a situation where once one or two of these things happen, the media starts jumping on these things. It’s a feeding frenzy”, he explained.
During an Axios conference, US Transportation Secretary has also reassured that flying remains as safe as ever. “Every time I get on a plane, I know that I’m participating in the safest mode of transportation in America. And I know the people who work very hard to keep it that way. And that’s part of why we’re pressing Boeing so hard”, he said.
Jennifer Homendy, the chair of NTSB, who is responsible of investigation all aviation incidents that result in major damage to the aircraft or injuries to passengers, has also reiterated the safety of flying. In an X post from 19 March, she pointed out that an average of 118 people die in the US in car accidents each day. In comparison, 49 people were killed in a regional jet crash in 2009 in New York and, since then, only 5 other people have died in the US due to incidents on commercial flights.
However, at the moment, other factors are coming into play that have not existed until now or not to the same extent, according to Ed Pierson, the director of the Foundation for Aviation Safety. On the one hand, the aviation industry, from aircraft manufacturers to airlines and airports, is under stress due to the “shortage of staff, in air traffic control, a shortage of pilots, of maintenance personnel, of manufacturing personnel.”
Moreover, Pierson believes that there is a “sense of overconfidence”. “The gold standard is melting down, because we continue to try to downplay everything and talk about how safe the system is. That’s not the right mindset. That’s the mindset that gets people killed”, he said.
