Before the pandemic, two shocking airplane crashes ripped the cover off a scandalous situation: Boeing’s 737 Max was not fit to fly. First, in October 2018, a Lion Air 737 Max 8 crashed into the sea just after takeoff, killing all 189 passengers and crew, and the following March, an Ethiopian Airlines 737 Max 8 crashed just after takeoff, killing 157 on board. One of the costliest corporate scandals in history ensued as Boeing’s cozy relationship with the Federal Aviation Administration was exposed in subsequent reporting, including books such as Flying Blind: The 737 Max Tragedy and the Fall of Boeing. The large-cap aerospace giant is still valued at roughly $140 billion today, but that’s a $100 billion-plus fall from grace after the crashes of the pre-pandemic era. (Boeing’s all-time-high market cap, in 2019, was $248 billion.)
Now another Boeing model, the 737 Max 9, has run into issues, prompting the FAA to temporarily ground 177 of the aircraft over the weekend for emergency inspection. The terrifying cause was a door plug getting ripped off an Alaska Airlines plane shortly after takeoff Friday, leaving a gaping hole in the side of the 737’s fuselage and forcing an emergency landing.
