Alaska CEO sees “significant improvement” at Boeing after doorstop incident

By David Shepardson

(Reuters) – Alaska Airlines CEO Ben Minicucci said the airline had seen “significant improvements” in recent months at struggling aircraft maker Boeing after a door stop missing key bolts was blown off one of the airline's new 737 MAX 9 jets from an altitude of 19,000 feet in January.

“We have seen a lot of significant improvements in the last few months,” Minicucci said in an interview, adding that he recently spoke with new Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg and praised him as an experienced aviation veteran who “recognized the problems at Boeing that need to be fixed.”

Minicucci added that Boeing needs to do more to improve quality and safety.

“There is still a long way to go, and that journey will not be completed in the next few months. It will take several years,” Minicucci said. “We will remain focused on holding Boeing accountable and committed to the highest levels of quality.”

Alaska Airlines, which this week takes delivery of its 12th plane in 2024 from Boeing, has tightened controls over new planes and has its own staff at the factory to check production. Minicucci also said he does not expect to receive any 737 MAX 10 planes before mid-2026. The Federal Aviation Administration has not certified either the MAX 7 or MAX 10 variants.

Certification of the MAX 7 has been delayed as the planemaker works on an anti-icing system for the engines. Boeing, which has said the MAX 7 must be certified before the larger 10 can be certified, said it had agreed on a solution to the problem, which could lead to overheating and possible engine failure.

Minicucci said he did not believe a strike by about 30,000 Boeing machinists in Washington and Oregon states would have a significant impact on operations in Alaska unless it lasted “inordinately long.”

“It's nothing we can't adjust by shifting some capacity from one market to another,” he said. Minicucci said if the strike lasts more than a few weeks, “we'll bring in the Boeing team and let them give us an assessment.”

(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Jonathan Oatis)