Boeing’s US West Coast factory workers will walk off the job after 96% voted on Thursday in favor of a strike, halting production of the planemaker’s strongest-selling jet as it wrestles with chronic output delays and mounting debt.
Here is a timeline of issues surrounding Boeing:
OCTOBER 2018:
A Lion Air MAX plane crashes in Indonesia, killing all 189 people on board.
NOVEMBER 2018:
The FAA and Boeing say they are evaluating the need for software or design changes to 737 MAX jets following the Lion Air crash.
MARCH 2019:
An Ethiopian Airlines MAX crashes, killing all 157 people on board. China’s aviation regulator becomes the first in the world to ground the MAX, followed by others including the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration.
APRIL 2019:
The FAA forms an international team to review the safety of the 737 MAX. Boeing cuts monthly production by nearly 20%.
JULY 2019:
Boeing posts its largest-ever quarterly loss.
OCTOBER 2019:
Boeing fires Kevin McAllister, the top executive of its commercial airplanes division.
DECEMBER 2019:
The company fires CEO Dennis Muilenburg in the wake of the twin crashes.
JANUARY 2020:
Boeing suspends 737 production, its biggest assembly-line halt in more than 20 years.
MAY 2020:
Boeing resumes 737 MAX production at a “low rate.”
SEPTEMBER 2020:
An 18-month investigation by a U.S. House of Representatives panel finds Boeing failed in its design and development of the MAX as well as its transparency with the FAA, and that the FAA failed in oversight and certification.
NOVEMBER 2020:
The U.S. FAA lifts the grounding order, allowing the 737 MAX to fly again.
JANUARY 2021:
The European Union Aviation Safety Agency approves the MAX’s return to service in Europe.
APRIL 2021:
Boeing halts 737 MAX deliveries after electrical problems re-ground part of the fleet.
NOVEMBER 2021:
Current and former Boeing company directors reach a $237.5 million settlement with shareholders to settle lawsuits over safety oversight of the 737 MAX.
APRIL 2023:
Boeing pauses deliveries of some 737 MAXs to deal with a new supplier quality problem involving non-compliant fittings.
AUGUST 2023:
Boeing identifies a new 737 MAX supplier quality problem involving improperly drilled holes on the aft pressure bulkhead.
JANUARY 2024:
A mid-air cabin blowout compels Alaska Airlines to perform an emergency landing of its recently acquired 737 MAX 9 aircraft, prompting the FAA to ground 171 of these jets and initiate an investigation. The FAA also bars Boeing from increasing MAX output, but lifts the grounding of MAX 9s once inspections were completed.
FEBRUARY 2024:
The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) publishes its preliminary report on the Alaska Airlines incident, finding the door panel that flew off the jet mid-flight appeared to be missing four key bolts.
MARCH 2024:
The FAA’s 737 MAX production audit finds multiple instances where Boeing and Spirit AeroSystems allegedly failed to comply with manufacturing quality control requirements. This comes days after Boeing said it was in preliminary talks to buy Spirit.
The ongoing crisis may mean Boeing will need more time to hit key financial targets for coming years, its CFO warns.
The U.S. planemaker says CEO Dave Calhoun will step down and announces that Stan Deal, Boeing Commercial Airplanes president and CEO, will be succeeded by Stephanie Pope.
MAY 2024
The U.S. Department of Justice says Boeing breached its obligations in a 2021 agreement that shielded it from criminal prosecution over 737 MAX crashes in 2018 and 2019.
JULY 2024:
Boeing acquires Spirit AeroSystems back in an all-stock deal for $4.7 billion in equity value.
Boeing agrees to plead guilty to a criminal fraud conspiracy charge and pay a fine of $243.6 million to resolve the U.S. Justice Department investigation into the two 737 MAX fatal crashes in 2018 and 2019.
Boeing names former Rockwell Collins executive Kelly Ortberg as its new president and CEO starting in August after a months-long search.
SEPTEMBER 2024:
Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft lands uncrewed in a New Mexico desert after technical issues left two astronauts it ferried to the International Space Station marooned there until February 2025, when a SpaceX vehicle is expected to return them to Earth.
Boeing said it had reached a tentative agreement with a union representing more than 32,000 workers in the U.S. Pacific Northwest, but the contract was later rejected in a vote and the workers said they would go on strike.
