United Airlines Flight Diverted Due to Damaged Wing. Why It’s Not a Big Deal for Boeing.
(sorry, no link - came up as a news feed on my bank site)
More unwelcome news for Boeing. A United Airlines Boeing 757 flight was forced to make an emergency landing in Denver after damage was discovered on one of the plane’s wings.
As production of the 757 stopped in 2004, it’s likely to be a maintenance issue rather than a manufacturing one. The plane is around 30 years old—in contrast, the Boeing MAX-9 that lost its door panel in midair on an Alaska Airlines flight last month was just eight weeks old.
The Federal Aviation Administration said it would investigate the incident that happened on a San Francisco to Boston flight Monday. United said the Boeing 757-200 jet, carrying 165 passengers, landed to “address an issue with the slat” on one of the wings, the report added. A slat is a movable panel on the edge of a plane’s wings, typically used during low-speed operations such a takeoff and landing.
The cause of the damage is not yet clear. Boeing did not comment but referred Barron’s to United.
Boeing’s problems have been mounting so far this year. The FAA launched an investigation into the plane maker’s manufacturing practices and production lines last month after the door panel of 737 MAX 9 blew off in midair during an Alaska Airlines flight. The regulator temporarily grounded the MAX 9 and halted Boeing’s planned production expansion of the MAX family.
The latest incident wasn’t greatly affecting the stock, which was down 0.2% in premarket trading early Wednesday. It has fallen 22% in 2024, while shares of its European rival Airbus are up 4% over the same period.
Um... thanks for the reassurance?