Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun is set to meet with U.S. senators this week to address concerns regarding the grounding of the 737 MAX 9 aircraft.
This meeting comes as United Airlines, a long-time customer of Boeing, has raised questions about their orders for the MAX 10 jets, worth billions of dollars.
Calhoun is scheduled to hold meetings on Capitol Hill starting Wednesday.
He will meet with Senators Ted Cruz and Mark Warner, among others, following a recent mid-air incident involving an Alaska Airlines jet. Boeing has declined to comment on the matter.
Additionally, Calhoun will meet with Senator Maria Cantwell, who chairs the Commerce Committee.
Cantwell had previously expressed plans to hold a hearing after the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) grounded 171 MAX 9 airplanes. This meeting was arranged at Boeing’s request.
United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby announced that the airline, which had ordered 277 MAX 10 jets with options for 200 more, would develop a new fleet plan that excludes the troubled MAX models facing regulatory and delivery delays.
The FAA grounded most of Boeing’s MAX 9 jets for inspections after an incident on an Alaska Airlines jet on January 5th, where a plug replacing an unused exit door tore off, forcing an emergency landing.
This incident has raised concerns about the approval and delivery of the MAX 10 and may impact production plans.
Boeing has been facing pressure from regulators and customers over quality control issues and has decided to pause production and delivery operations for a day for a quality stand-down at its factory in Renton, Washington.
Other Boeing production sites will also conduct similar stand-downs in the coming weeks.
The MAX 10, although not affected by the door-plug issue, is still at risk of delays due to the grounding of the MAX 9.
This has led to uncertainty surrounding the larger MAX 10 orders, which make up a significant portion of outstanding MAX orders.
In response to these challenges, Boeing is hoping that the MAX 10 will help them compete with Airbus in the market.
However, analysts suggest that MAX 10 deliveries may be delayed by up to five years.
United Airlines, holding a substantial portion of the MAX 10 backlog, has indicated that they will not cancel their orders but will remove them from internal plans.
Airbus, Boeing’s main competitor, is already sold out for similar planes until around 2030.
While there have been calls for changes in Boeing’s top management, some industry leaders, like Larry Culp, the CEO of GE Aerospace, have expressed confidence in Boeing’s leadership’s ability to address the issues and challenges they currently face.