The Gravest Injury in the Most Recent Commercial Jet Accident Is to Boeing's Reputation

Neither the inferno of the Airbus A350 operating as Japan Airlines Flight 516 nor the fuselage panel failure on the Boeing 737 MAX 9 for Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 during the first week of 2024 resulted in serious injury to passengers or crew. This is due to safety features built into commercial airplanes that add to the complexity and cost of manufacturing but are obviously worthwhile to protect lives. Investors in Boeing and Airbus bank on the companies' long-term durability and safety records and ongoing obligation to adhere to the strictest product governance standards to meet safety requirements. The fatal crashes of two Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft in 2018 and 2019 had serious consequences for Boeing, including the grounding of the entire 737 MAX fleet by global aviation regulators for nearly two years, because they called into question Boeing’s ability to fulfill its product governance commitment.