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Boeing again, grounds dozens of 737 Max jets months after return to the skies

*Boeing Company says it is working with the US Federal Aviation Administration on a ‘production issue’ that affects a specific group of planes, affecting about 16 current operators

Alexander Davis | ConsumerConnect

In just a few months after re-certification of the aircraft model to return to the air, Boeing Company, again, has grounded dozens of 737 Max airplanes to repair a new electrical issue.

ConsumerConnect reports Boeing, world’s largest manufacturer of commercial airplanes and military aircraft, Boeing controls more than half of the global market for jet airliners, and is the leading supplier of military jets and helicopters, missile systems, and aerospace technology in the world.

The Chicago-based United States (US) plane manufacturer in a statement Friday, April 9 said it had identified the potential problem on some Max jets and alerted 16 clients with the affected serial numbers that they should not be operated until it is addressed.

The aeronautics company said it’s working with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on what it described as a “production issue” that affects a specific group of planes, not the entire fleet.

The firm further noted that “the recommendation is being made to allow for verification that a sufficient ground path exists for a component of the electrical power system.”

While the issue isn’t related to the flight-control system that was at the centre of the jet’s nearly two-year grounding, it takes the luster off a comeback story that has developed over the first three months of the year, report stated.

In March, Boeing secured a bumper commitment for the 737 Max from Southwest Airlines Co., which had publicly flirted with Airbus SE’s A220, a smaller single-aisle jet.

Boeing slipped 1% in premarket trading from Thursday’s close of $254.95 in New York.

Aside from the newly revealed production issue afflicting the Max, Boeing has been contending with a separate manufacturing flaw on another model, the 787 Dreamliner. Deliveries of the Dreamliner restarted March 2021, after a five-month drought while the company inspected and repaired tiny wrinkles in the inner lining of the planes’ carbon-fiber barrels.

As regards the impact of this recall on carriers, Boeing reportedly declined to say how many of the 183 planes that have been brought into service after the nearly two-year grounding of the model were affected in the latest production issue.

However, a separate memo was said to have revealed about 20 operators are conducting about 400 daily flights.

Those include American Airlines Group Inc., United Airlines Holdings Inc. and Southwest, the largest 737 operator.

Meanwhile, Jessica Kowal, a Boeing spokeswoman, disclosed that it’s premature to estimate how long it will take for the problem to be fixed.

“It could take a matter of hours or a few days. We will update you when we have additional information,” Kowal said.

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