Last month, Boeing celebrated carrying 1 billion passengers at the 787 Dreamliner. This is an impressive feat that was released just 14 years ago. Until today's tragic Air India Crash in Ahmedabad, the model was a flagship for intercontinental travel and had an exemplary safety record.
This is a different plane from each Boeing 737 Max after killing hundreds of people in 2018 and 2019, respectively, after the fatal crash falls in Indonesia and Ethiopia.
It has been known that software failures caused these incidents, and the model was grounded worldwide for 18 months.
So far, nothing suggests a flaw on the Boeing side of India today. When the plane's black boxes (an electronic recording device that stores important flight information) are collected, a much more enriched image appears.
There are various theories being hypothesized about what could have caused the crash in Ahmedabad, but one of the pilots I spoke to state that it is rare for manufacturer negligence to cause fatal incidents.
With a very noticeable exception to the Boeing 737's biggest crash, he said most of them are human error in the cockpit.
It is also important to remember that when flying commercially, the airplane-creating industry operates as an effective double-tiered one, so you are almost always on a Boeing or Airbus model.
Still, Boeing discovered that the name was associated with yet another tragic aviation incident.
The company said “thoughts are with passengers, crew members, first responders, everyone affected,” adding that it is working with Air India to gather more information about the crash.
Boeing's shares fell 5% when the stock market opened in New York on Thursday.
The tragedy is another issue for businesses that lost around $1 billion in the last month, as they struggled with safety crises, quality control issues and a seven-week worker strike.
After one of its doors popped up midway through the Alaska Airlines flight in 2024, Boeing was forced to pay $160 million (£126 million) in compensation.
Before that, the company reached a $428 million settlement with Southwest Airlines for financial damages caused by the long-term foundations of the largest fleet of 737.
In addition to serious financial issues, Boeing faces serious questions about safety practices. In April, the company said it had seen “improve operational performance” due to its “continuous focus on safety and quality.”
In 2019, a former employee told the BBC that under-pressure workers intentionally had adapted standard parts to aircraft on the production line.
John Burnett, who worked as a quality control manager at Boeing for over 30 years, took his life last March. Boeing denied his claim.
Another whistleblower engineer Sam Salefour told politicians he was harassed and threatened after raising concerns about the safety of Boeing's plane.
Boeing said retaliation is “strictly prohibited,” and saw a “up over 500%” in reports from employees since January.
Boeing has also been caught up in a series of legal battles related to the Indonesian-Ethiopia clash. Last month, the company narrowly circumvented criminal prosecution by coming to an agreement with the US Department of Justice (DOJ).
To disappoint the victim's families, the DOJ said Boeing would admit to a conspiracy to “scampaign and obstruct the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration investigation and would pay more than $1.1 billion in fines.
Naturally, Boeing's top executive team has undergone a rather significant shakeup over the past few years.
That new boss, Kelly Autoberg, came out of retirement a year ago and tried to revive the sick company.
He has pledged to improve Boeing's safety culture and recently said he is confident that the aviation giant will soon return to profitability.
Today he faces worse news to navigate.
