Boeing paid Alaska Airlines an initial $160 million payout over a mid-flight gate mishap

The legal battle between Boeing And Alaska Airlines After the January incident, it received its first resolution on Thursday after the airline confirmed a $100 million payment 160 million dollars By the company. The amount, as indicated in a statement delivered to the US stock market regulator, is “Initial compensation” Which covers the financial damages resulting from the accident as well as the damage and paralysis suffered by other aircraft in the fleet for inspection.

The memo adds, “The cash payment is equivalent to the loss of profits resulting from the accident and downtime in the first quarter of 2024. Additional compensation is expected after the first quarter, and its terms are confidential.”

On January 5, a model ship 737-9 Max Alaska Airlines lost a window and part of the fuselage mid-flight, at about 16,000 feet, forcing it to make an emergency landing in Portland, Oregon. Although no casualties were reported, the airline was immediately forced to immobilize other MAX 9 aircraft for a thorough inspection.

Until the Federal Aviation Administration The FAA has expanded this procedure to include other companies that operate ships of this type, such as United Airlines and Copa Airlines.

This hiatus extended into February and generated some problems with flight bookings, so Alaska expects losses of between $1.05 and $1.15 per share in the first quarter of the year, of which $0.95 will be related to this episode. That number beats analyst estimates, which put declines at $0.86 per share, according to a FactSet survey.

However, the airline acknowledged that its “strategic adjustments” and “strong demand in the quarter” allowed it to close February and March with better results than it expected.

In tandem with this decision, the FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board continue to examine the circumstances of the accident to determine its official cause, while the Department of Justice evaluates whether it is the result of a settlement reached by Boeing in 2021. Prosecution of misleading regulators who certified MAX models.

Whatever the authorities decide, the fact is that Boeing is now adding another chapter to this case Huge losses To your date. For five years, the company has posted numbers in the red: first because of the crisis that erupted when two 737-8 Max planes crashed in similar circumstances in October 2018 and March 2019, and then because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Thus, the failure of the MAX models, which has spread to other cases of other airlines, will cause a cash outflow from the company between 4 billion US dollars And 4.5 billion US dollars In the first quarter alone, its chief financial officer, Brian West, said. This represents Negative business margin close to 20% In this period, ie Worst performance since the end of 2021.

“We are not at a point where we can handle these financial outcomes in the short term because of the work we have around stabilization. We expect that we will become more predictable and in a better position, but it will take some time,” he commented.

(With information from AP and EFE)