Should you fly on a Boeing plane?

Plus some sappy self-promotion and probably too many links

Hello and happy spring!

It’s been a bad few months for Boeing, and today CEO Dave Calhoun announced he will step down at the end of the year. I took two Boeing flights in the past week, to Germany and back, and yes––I was a little nervous

In case you need a refresher, here’s a rundown of the Boeing crisis:

October 2018—Lion Air Flight 610 crashes into the Java Sea, killing all 189 people on board. 

March 2019—Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 crashes after taking off from Addis Ababa, killing all 157 people on board. China grounds all 737 Max planes and many other countries follow suit. The U.S. eventually does too (though it was one of the last in the world to do so and first said the planes were save), for 20 months.

April 2019—Boeing says an anti-stall feature on the 737 Max played a role in the crashes. 

January 2020—Boeing releases internal communication showing employees expressed doubts about the 737 Max’s safety. Boeing halts production of the 737 Max. 

August 2020—The FAA orders eight 787 Dreamliners grounded due to concerns over the manufacturing process. 

January 2021—Boeing agrees to pay $2.5 billion to settle criminal charges that it hid information from safety officials about the design of 737 Max planes. The Justice Department said Boeing chose “profit over candor” and did not cooperate with investigators for six months. 

September 2021—Boeing finds empty tequila bottles inside a 747 jet being refurbished for use as the next generation of Air Force One. 

January 2024—The door plug on Alaska Airlines 737 Max 9 flight blows out after takeoff, causing clothing, phones and other items to fly out of the plane and passengers to sit with a gaping hole until the plane could make an emergency landing. Luckily, no one was seated near the door. 

February 2024—A National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) preliminary investigation finds that the Alaska Airlines was missing four bolts needed to secure the door, and  left a Boeing factory that way. The FAA issues a report critical of safety culture at Boeing. It identified “hesitation in reporting safety concerns for fear of retaliation” and said confusion about the safety programs “may discourage employees from submitting safety concerns.” A subsequent FAA report finds multiple problems with Boeing’s production practices, including process control, parts handling and storage, and product control. 

February 2024—Also in February, the NTSB investigated a United Airlines Boeing 737 Max 8 flight that experienced “stuck” rudder pedals during landing. 

March 1, 2024—The FAA finds more potential safety issues with 737 Max and 787 Dreamliner aircraft, involving engine anti-ice systems.

March 4, 2024—Flames shoot out of a United Airlines Boeing 737-900 engine on a flight from Texas to Florida, prompting an emergency landing. 

March 9, 2024—John Barnett, a former Boeing employee who raised concerns about safety standards, is found dead days after giving evidence in a whistleblower lawsuit against the company. The office of Charleston County Coroner Bobbi Jo O'Neal said that Barnett died "from what appears to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound." More here. 

March 11, 2024—LATAM Airlines Boeing 787 flight from Australia to New Zealand experiences a severe drop in altitude, injuring dozens of passengers who flew into the ceiling. 

March 11, 2024—The FAA issues an airworthiness directive to inspect Boeing Max planes for a wiring issue that could result in a “loss of control.” 

Meanwhile, production delays of the 737 Max could lead to higher airfares and fewer flights for consumers, CBS reports. This Vox piece details even more Boeing issues. And this one from Heated dives into Boeing’s “green capitalism” gone wrong. 

How to tell if you’re flying on a Boeing plane 

It depends on the airline, but you can usually see it on your ticket or on your confirmation in the airline’s app, under flight details. The Points Guy has an explainer for each airline.

What are your options for refunds or changing flights?

You don’t have many. After the Alaska Airlines door blew out, the airline issued a flexible travel waiver, but you could only use it through Feb. 2. Other airlines are not offering free changes or cancellations due to the type of aircraft. 

What should you do if you really don’t want to fly in a Boeing plane?

United and Alaska are the only two U.S. carriers of the 737 Max 9, so you could always book with a different airline to be safe. (Copa Airlines, Aeromexico, Turkish Airlines, Icelandair, Flydubai and SCAT Airlines in Kazakhstan also use the 737 Max 9). But it’s not only the 737 Max. The 787 has also had issues (see above). 

On Kayak, you can filter by type of aircraft. The search engine reported a 15-fold increase in passenger using the filter after the Alaska Airlines incident. 

So, should you fly on a Boeing plane? 

Travelers basically have two options: Boeing or Airbus. And some airlines, like United, primarily use Boeing planes. 

I’ve never been afraid of air travel but the 2018 and 2019 crashes shook me, and whether it was logical or not for a couple of years afterward I would be tense until we’d been in the air at least an hour (both of those crashes happened pretty quickly after takeoff). With all the news lately, I’m freaked out again. I flew to Germany on Monday and was nervous about the flight.

It’s hard not to be nervous when the lead spokesman of the Allied Pilots Association says things like this: 

"I'm at an alert status that I've never had to be in on a Boeing airplane. Because I don't trust that they've followed the processes that have previously kept me safe on Boeing airplanes for over three decades."

Still, air travel is still extremely safe. It is by far the safest form of travel. In fact, despite all the recent Boeing news, fatal aviation incidents are down. My most recent flight was booked through work, so I didn’t have a say in the aircraft. I told myself that if I had booked myself I would have filtered for it, but I’m not sure I actually would have. Flights are expensive and reporters can’t afford to be picky!

More than 100,000 flights take off around the world every day and we hear about the very, very rare bad incidents. That said, passengers shouldn’t have to worry. And whether or not most Boeing planes are safe shouldn’t stop us from demanding answers and accountability. We should be upset that there is virtually no competition, meaning we pay exorbitant prices and are forced to fly two options, one of which has had legitimate safety issues. We should be angry that Boeing is too big to fail, and propped up by bailouts and government contracts. We should definitely be furious that the FAA is severely underfunded and therefore has partially relied on Boeing to self-regulate. (Not to mention the FAA’s own issues, like too many near-miss runway incidents). It doesn’t hurt to express these frustrations to your congresspeople. 

But the truth is, consumers don’t have a lot of power here. All we can do is hope that the government steps up its regulation, and that airlines put pressure on Boeing. (Last month, Emirates’ president said Boeing was in the “last chance saloon” and sent his own engineers to oversee Boeing’s production process. In January, United’s CEO said he was rethinking a multibillion-dollar order). 

If you travel often, you’re likely going to fly on a Boeing plane. I sympathize with you on not being happy about it.

Shameless self promotion 

February was my last month at The Advocate. We’re moving to Europe (more on this soon), so exciting things are ahead but leaving the paper was very sad. I have loved reporting on Louisiana, a complex state that has so many issues and yet so much to offer. I’ll be happy to not deal with public records officers in Baton Rouge for awhile (and I’m sure the feeling is mutual), but public records did help me find that the average person found incompetent to stand trial in Louisiana languishes in jail for an 6.8 months before being admitted for treatment— all before being found guilty of a crime. And that Baton Rouge police launch a chase every three days and have very little pursuit training, despite incidents where officers have hit and killed innocent bystanders. Those were my last stories and two favorites, though it’s hard to pick. (And just a reminder that regular citizens can request public records, too!) I’ve been feeling a lot of despair about the journalism industry lately, but working at The Advocate was always hopeful thanks to intelligent, compassionate (underpaid!) colleagues who put in effort every day to make sense of and show what’s happening across the state. And a lot is happening lately. If you can support your local newspaper, please do. 

While waiting for visas, I’ve been writing for The Food Section. It’s been fun to be back on the food beat, especially for stories like this one about what’s happening to Louisiana’s wild crawfish population. I’ve also been writing about food and international development for Devex. 

Around the South 

All of our belongings have been shipped across the world and we’ve been living out of suitcases for about six weeks now. The waiting for visas is getting a little old, but the extra time gave us the chance to road trip around Alabama, Texas, Arkansas and to the Midwest. More on all of that soon. 

Reading List 

Wrote a love letter to Louisiana

They ate at my table, then ignored my people. Related: A cuisine under siege And: An elegy for Gazan life

Appreciation for Mario Lopez’s taco TikTok

Woman sues tomato company, says those aren’t San Marzanos in the can

Loved this Miami anti-spring break campaign. Related: Venice tries to turn back the clock on overtourism And: Hawaii considers a tourism tax

In case you still need eclipse plans

U.S. museum hands looted artifacts back to Ghana

A devious corporate ransom for Taylor Swift’s Pop-Tarts by 

Michael Nagrant

This story about squab and food safety is fascinating

The night owl’s special: midnight spaghetti

What do chefs eat after a long day? Domino’s thin crust

Why traveling with friends is more fun by

Ruth Reichl

Paris brought back the waiters’ race (Also liked this story on how Paris stays Paris)

This Oscar night diary was fun

A Chicago barbecue sauce captures history in a bottle

Bioluminescent houseplants are now a thing

Random Recommendations:

Read: If you only click on one link, make it this one. This piece says everything I think about all the time, but better than I ever could. I wish I wrote it!  “The contradictions pile up. The traveler is a paragon of curiosity and generosity of spirit; the tourist is a facile automaton, a constituent of a witless herd. Travel is an expression of democratic freedom and the economic lifeblood for millions; tourism is an instrument of capitalist expropriation, an engine of inequality. The act of travel opens the heart and the mind to the lives of others, but it can equally be regarded as an exercise in selfishness, pursued for the accrual of personal gratification and cultural capital. Travel was better when there were fewer people doing it, but saying so out loud is nothing but snobbery.”

Do: Bookmark this!! 

Watch: I cried my eyes out during One Day and am liking The Regime so far. 

Listen: Eurovision is around the corner and this podcast will get you up to speed. And if you want to hear more about mental health in Louisiana jails, I talked about it on WWNO. Starts around the 6-minute mark.

Cook: Nothing this time. I am so looking forward to having a kitchen again. But if you want to know how to spice up hotel breakfast oatmeal, I’ve got you covered.

Thanks for reading!

–Rebecca 💛