Boeing crisis worsens as countries destroy 737 MAX jets

The Chinese aeronautical authorities on Monday urged the country's airlines to ditch all their Boeing 737 MAX 8s, stressing the need for "strict control of security risks". Indonesian regulators said the aircraft needed to be inspected before flights resumed. And the Singapore government said on Tuesday that it was temporarily suspending the use of the Boeing aircraft inside and outside its territory.

"A suspension in China is very important because it is a major market for Boeing," said Greg Waldron, editor-in-chief for Asia at the aviation research company FlightGlobal.

Chinese airlines operate 97 of the 737 MAXs in service, accounting for more than a quarter of the total in operation worldwide, according to FlightGlobal.

Airlines act

But Mary Schiavo, an aviation badyst at CNN and former inspector general of the US Department of Transportation, said it would be wise for Boeing or the airlines to anchor the aircraft ahead of any government mandate.

"There are huge questions about this plane – the website is already exploding by telling pbadengers how to check if their plane is one of these planes and how to get out of it." she said on CNN's New Day show. "So, by taking over, they are way ahead."

Ethiopian Airlines announced that it was grounding its fleet of 737 MAX aircraft by "additional precaution". AeroMexico, Aerolíneas Argentinas, Comair (South Africa) and Cayman Airways, the main carrier of the Cayman Islands, did the same.

The Boeing blockbuster

The single-aisle Boeing 737 has been a workhorse for short and medium-haul flights for decades. The 737 MAX is the latest version – and by far the best-selling aircraft of the company. The airlines have ordered thousands.

The two-year-old 737 MAX 8 model is particularly popular. The MAX 9 has been on sale only recently and Boeing has not yet delivered the MAX 10.

Last year, 72% of Boeing deliveries were made by 737 aircraft. Boeing plans to make 59 new 737s each month this year, four times more than Boeing's next best-selling 787s.

Despite negative headlines, Richard Aboulafia, an aviation badyst at Teal Group, predicted that the fallout from the crash in Ethiopia should not hurt Boeing's bottom line too much.

"In relation to the company's income, it would not be too heavy," he said.

Boeing delivered a record 806 commercial aircraft in 2018 and achieved a business turnover of more than $ 100 billion for the first time in 102 years of existence. Before the crash of Ethiopia, its stock had increased by 31% this year.

Two accidents

The circumstances of the collisions between Ethiopian Airlines and Lion Air are under investigation and Boeing has not presented any evidence suggesting that the two disasters are related. The similarities can be a coincidence.

"An official investigation will have to be conducted on this new accident.It is important not to speculate on its causes.A final final report has not yet been published on the Lion case. [Air] crash, "said Waldron.

"Having said that, having two accidents of a new type in a short period of time is an unprecedented state of affairs," he added. "It's inevitable that it affects perceptions about the 737 MAX family."

Aboulafia said that if the same problems resulted in both accidents, Boeing may have to quickly implement a set of modifications to its aircraft and change the way the 737 MAX 8 crews are trained.

A Boeing technical team will visit the accident site to provide badistance to the Accident Investigation Bureau in Ethiopia and the US National Transportation Safety Board.

– Daniel Shane of CNN Business contributed to this report.

Fixed: an earlier version of this story incorrectly identified which version of the 737 MAX United was flying