Will Airbus Climb Past Boeing?

By now, everybody should know about the two catastrophic Boeing crashes of late 2018 and early 2019. With a total casualty count of 346 lives, the Boeing 737 MAX 8 is not a popular plane (Johnston & Harris, 2019). Here is an overview of how Boeing’s efforts to compete with their main competitor, Airbus, ended up hurting them in almost every way imaginable.

There are two main airplane manufacturers globally Boeing and Airbus. Both companies produce a similar, narrow-bodied plane (the Airbus A320 and the Boeing 737). The Boeing 737 is the best-selling airplane with over 15,000 units sold. When Airbus announced an improved A320 with an increase in fuel economy of 14% per seat, Boeing had to act fast to stay competitive. For both good and bad, Boeing was quick to come up with a solution for the 737 that would surpass the A320 upgrade. Boeing decided to update an existing 737 frame with larger engines to match the new Airbus fuel economy measure without drastically changing the current design. The new plane would be dubbed the 737 MAX, and with such a similar construction to its predecessor, Boeing promised that pilots already trained on the 737 would not need to undergo additional training and were ready to fly (Johnston & Harris, 2019). This idea sold well to airlines - more efficient planes with low costs beyond the actual purchase of the plane itself.

One design characteristic of the 737 is how low it is to the ground. Boeing’s new, more fuel efficient, engines were larger than those of the old 737 and would not fit under the wing. To compensate, Boeing added some additional length to the front landing gear to keep the engines from hitting the ground, but there was still an issue with aerodynamics. Boeing decided to also move the engine slightly higher up on the wing to accommodate for the larger engine size. This resulted in more lift when the plane was angled in certain ways (such as during takeoff and abrupt maneuvers). The amount of extra lift generated was enough to potentially stall the aircraft during flight, so Boeing installed a Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS) that would detect drastic lift and control the aircraft to attempt to regulate the tilt. Unfortunately, since 737 pilots were not to be retrained on this new aircraft, they were not prepared for working with this MCAS. In order to make sure the MCAS worked properly, pilot input was ignored when MCAS was engaged and the pilot’s steering movements would not affect the plane’s trajectory. Also, disengaging the system was an intense process. Sadly, it is believed that misinformation from sensors within the aircraft sent inadequate signals to the MCAS, triggering false alarms and sending the noses of two airplanes towards the ground when there was no real threat. These two flights, on Lion Air and Ethipian Airlines, both crashed and took a sum of 346 lives (Johnston & Harris, 2019).

Boeing’s eagerness to roll out the 737 MAX allowed these errors to go overlooked. As it turns out, Boeing sells a package with the 737 MAX’s that contains a light to alert pilots of potential errors in the MCAS sensors. Neither of the flights that crashed had this function. (Johnston & Harris, 2019). Now, clearly not every 737 MAX that was flown had crashed, but the grounding of this fleet was a rational safety measure taken to save lives and send a message to Boeing that something needed to be done to rectify the situation. Boeing’s customers had to cancel flights and reimagine their entire supply chain. No orders of yet-to-be-shipped 737 MAX’s could go into the air.

Boeing quickly began work on a solution, fixing the MCAS system and its relevant components, as well as developing trainings for pilots. Knowing that a fear of flying is already a pertinent issue, they also acknowledged that drastic measures in the realm of crisis communication needed to be taken. The Boeing website now has a page titled “737MAX Updates” full of information, press releases, and all relevant media related to the incidents, as well as the measures taken to counteract the mistakes. This new web page is a huge step for the company, and provides an additional level of transparency. The general theme represented on this page is that Boeing has re-examined and overhauled their approach to safety measures and reporting procedures. The company has also begun to invest in pilot maintenance training, and emphasized hiring from within the STEM field (The Boeing Company, 2019).

As for future steps to regain consumer confidence, Boeing is working closely with the FAA and its administrator, Steve Dickson, to ensure that the revamped 737 MAX is as safe, if not safer, than any other plane in the sky. In fact, Dickson even mentioned in an interview, “I’m the final signoff authority in the U.S., and I’m not going to sign off on the aircraft until I would fly it myself”, followed by saying “I will fly the Max” (LeBeau, 2019). Dickson also assured the public that he will not allow the plane to fly until he is sure it is “the safest thing out there” (LeBeau, 2019).

As a supplier of airplanes, Boeing’s sales are strongly involved in transport economics, the field of study regarding the movement of people and things between two points in the most efficient and effective manners possible. With the inability to supply their clients with the tools necessary to accomplish this task, they have taken a large blow as a company. Luckily, they’re a strong company with a recognizable name and a strong history. In regards to whether or not Airbus will take sales from Boeing, only time can tell. Boeing companies would need to purchase and retrain crew members for an entirely new fleet, not to mention that they would have to continue to fly Boeing for a few years until their new orders would be fulfilled. In the first quarter of 2019, airplane manufacturer group revenues increased by 24%, while Boeing had to reduce production due to the mass groundings of the 737 MAX in order to focus on a solution. In this same time period, Boeing reportedly delivered 162 aircraft, 126 of which being the 737’s competitor, the A320; meanwhile, Boeing suspended its delivery projections due to uncertainty regarding when the MAX will fly again (Pheifer). Whether or not the return of the 737 will rebound Boeing’s sales figures is not certain. Hopefully consumers will continue to board a plane with a 737 MAX logo in the future, but Boeing, the FAA, and individual airlines will have to convince their customers that the plane is safe in order for that to happen.

Works Cited

Johnston, P., & Harris, R. (2019). The boeing 737 MAX saga: Lessons for software

organizations. Software Quality Professional, 21(3), 4-12. Retrieved from https://search.proquest.com/docview/2246851715?accountid=8576

LeBeau, P. (2019, September 18). FAA chief says he won’t certify the Boeing 737 Max until he

flies the plane himself. Retrieved from https://www.cnbc.com/2019/09/18/faa-chief-says-he-wont-certify-the-737-max-until-he-flies-the-plane-himself.html

Pheifer, S. (2019, April 30). Airbus on course to surpass Boeing in deliveries race. Retrieved

from https://www.ft.com/content/f66cddf0-6b04-11e9-80c7-60ee53e6681d