Airlines Filed 1,800 Reports Warning About Boeing’s 737 Max
Since 2020, airlines have filed more than 1,800 safety concerns over the Boeing 737 Max to federal regulators. Safety advocates assert that understaffed airline regulators have failed to acknowledge or address the problems.
Alaska Airlines N704AL, a 737 Max 9, which made an emergency landing at Portland International Airport on January 5, is parked on the tarmac in Portland, Oregon, on January 23, 2024. (Patrick T. Fallon / AFP via Getty Images)
Over the last three years, operators of Boeing’s troubled 737 Max planes have filed more than 1,800 service difficulty reports — more than one per day — warning government regulators about safety problems with the aircraft since the fleet was allowed to resume flying after two fatal crashes. All but roughly 150 of the reports came from Alaska Airlines — the operator of a 737 Max plane that suffered a midair cabin breach over Portland, Oregon, earlier this month.
Between December 2020 and September 2023, Alaska Airlines filed more than 1,230 reports related to the fifty-three Boeing 737 Max planes it had in its fleet. For comparison, during the same period the airline filed twenty-five reports for its ten Airbus A321 Neo airplanes, the main competitor to Boeing’s 737 Max.
The federal safety reports, compiled by the nonprofit Foundation for Aviation Safety, detail a host of issues with the 737 Max that go far beyond the myriad problems that have plagued Boeing planes in recent weeks. They include fuel leaks on potentially hundreds of planes caused by misapplied sealant, malfunctioning stabilizing motors, debris found in fuel tanks, engine stalls during takeoff, and malfunctioning anti-ice systems, among other issues.
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