Boeing's door plug blowout cost airlines. Big time.

Thu, 04/18/2024 - 16:33

image of official looking at hole in plane — Investigator-in-charge John Lovell examines the area where the plane's door plug had been.
National Transportation Safety Board

Both Alaska and United Airlines reported quarterly losses this week.
But the airlines' bosses said they would've turned profits if it weren't for Boeing's door plug fiasco.
Alaska said it received $162 million from Boeing in compensation for the damages.

The Boeing door blowout in January tanked Alaska Airlines' first quarter earnings — and it's not the only airline to have been hurt by the incident.

Alaska said Thursday its results were "significantly impacted" by the door plug blowout and subsequent grounding of its fleet of 737-9 MAX planes.

Alaska reported losses of $132 million in Q1. But, excluding the grounding impacts, the company said it would have posted $5 million in adjusted income before taxes.