CRIMINAL CAPITALI$M

Boeing Supplier Involved With Alaska Airlines Mishap Under Fire

Story by Rich Thomaselli  • 

Alaska Airlines' Boeing 737-9 MAX.© Alaska Airlines Media

The airline parts company that made the door plugs that are the subject of the investigation of the Alaska Airlines plane in which a side panel was blown out, was sued previously.

Spirit AeroSystems, which is not affiliated with Spirit Airlines, was at the center of a class action lawsuit claiming that the company was manufacturing sub-par parts.

The lawsuit was filed in May of 2023 and amended in December.

The incident happened last week when a side panel blew off a Boeing 737 Max 9 plane midflight. The pilot was able to make an emergency landing despite the gaping hole in the aircraft, and no injuries were reported.

The Federal Aviation Administration has since grounded the impacted MAX 9 planes, which are primarily used by Alaska Airlines and United Airlines in this country.

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of investors in Spirit AeroSystems.

Both Alaska and United have said they have since found loose door bolts on some of the jets they have in their possession.

The previous lawsuit could be a damning piece of evidence, especially an email from a former employee to management claiming an "excessive amount of defects." None of the claims in the email specifically touched on the door bolts but said that Spirit AeroSystem's "quality failures were so severe and persistent that Boeing even placed Spirit on probation for multiple years."

In a statement, Spirit said it "strongly disagrees with the assertions made by plaintiffs in the amended complaint and intends to vigorously defend against the claims. Spirit will not comment further as to the pending litigation."

The lawsuit alleges that “such constant quality failures resulted partly from Spirit's culture which prioritized production numbers and short-term financial outcomes over product quality."