Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun accepted responsibility for a recent mid-air panel blowout incident on an Alaska Airlines flight. Following the emergency landing, he vowed complete transparency and committed to working with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), which is probing the incident. US regulators have grounded 171 737 MAX 9 planes with the same configuration as the Alaska Airlines jet, and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is working with Boeing to finalize detailed inspection instructions for the grounded planes.

Both United Airlines and Alaska Airlines reported finding loose hardware on some of their Boeing 737 MAX 9 planes during preliminary inspections. The crisis has renewed pressure on Boeing, leading to hundreds of canceled flights and disrupting travel plans. This incident has also impacted the company's stock price and has raised concerns about Boeing's supply chain and quality control problems. Despite these challenges, Boeing reported delivering 44 737 MAX jets in December 2023, reaching a total of 396 jets delivered for the year.

This was within Boeing's target, although deliveries remain far below pre-grounding levels. Aviation analysts believe the issue with the loose panel seems to be a quality control defect rather than a design issue, resembling the problems with the flawed flight handling system involved in two fatal MAX crashes in 2018 and 2019. While there is no indication of design flaws, the incident has raised concerns about safety protocols and quality control at Boeing.