Passengers 'should be confident' about safety of Boeing planes
A senior Boeing executive has reassured passengers about the safety and quality of the plane maker's aircraft, but declined to comment directly on the Air India crash as the investigation continues.
Darren Hulst, Boeing's vice president of marketing, was speaking during a press briefing at the Paris Air Show.
'With regards to the Air India tragedy, our hearts, our thoughts and our prayers are with all the families that have been impacted by this, as well as our partner and long-term customer Air India,' he said.
Mr Hulst insisted customers and passengers 'should be confident' about the safety of Boeing aircraft. 'Longer term, we all know how important safety and quality are to our business,' he added.
Boeing has scaled back its presence at the biennial show in Le Bourget on the outskirts of the French capital following the crash involving one of its 787 wide-body jets operated by Air India last week.
Chief executive Kelly Ortberg and head of commercial planes unit Stephanie Pope both withdrew from the event and the US manufacturer has yet to announce any new orders at the expo.
The Air India crash is the another setback for Boeing, which had been in the process of rebuilding trust after a series of safety and production quality lapses.
Asked whether the accident has dented customer confidence and if it could affect demand for the 787 Dreamliner, Mr Hulst suggested it is too early in the investigation to come to any conclusions. 'Demonstrating and proving that credibility over time is not just something that we do overnight,' he said.
Re-establishing that credibility is part of a long-term commitment to re-instil safety and quality values throughout the business while continuing to communicate with customers, Mr Hulst explained.
'We will continue to support our customers,,' he added. 'We're there on the ground today with our partners at Air India to support them and that is not going to change.
'In the longer term, those values continue to drive how we build, how we design and how we support our fleets. I have full confidence in that continuing.'
Mr Hulst was speaking as Boeing released its 20-year commercial market forecast, which shows that there is global demand for 43,600 new passenger and freighter jets by 2044.
Meanwhile, India's aviation safety regulator said on Tuesday that it found no major safety issues with Air India's fleet of Boeing 787 jets during its inspections, following the crash last week that killed all but one of the 242 people on board flight AI 171.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation completed one-time checks on 24 of the 33 Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft operated by the carrier, Bloomberg reported, citing a statement from the regulator. Air India is operating 27 of the jets, though six are currently grounded for maintenance, the DGCA said.
While Boeing's presence at the Paris Air Show was muted, European rival Airbus on Tuesday announced a deal with budget airline VietJet for up to 150 single-aisle aircraft. The Vietnamese airline has ordered 100 of the A321 Neo aircraft, with the potential to add another 50 in the future, Airbus said.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
UAE Moments
an hour ago
- UAE Moments
Air India Continues to Suffer as Eight Flights Get Cancelled
Air India cancelled at least eight flight on Friday, June 20 because of maintenance issues and operational issues, according to ANI. The cancelled flights include four international flights and four domestic flights. The airline did not clarify the maintenance issues they experienced. These cancellations followed the cancellation of three flights on Wednesday, June 19, citing technical and maintenance issues. In two cases, the passengers had already boarded the plane before the flight was cancelled. Since the Air India crash in Ahmedabad on Thursday, June 12, the airline has experienced a surge in flight delays and cancellations. It has also led to increased inspections of the airline's airline's Boeing 787 and 777 fleets.
UAE Moments
an hour ago
- UAE Moments
Bali Flights Cancelled After Indonesia's Volcano Eruption
Many international flights, including from Singapore, Australia, and India to Bali, were cancelled on Wednesday, June 18, after the eruption of the Mount Lewotobi Laki Laki volcano in Indonesia. Virgin Australia, Jetstar, and Air New Zealand confirmed cancellations of flights from Bali. Simultaneously, Air India, Singapore's Tiger Air, and China's Juneyao Airlines also cancelled flights because of the eruption, according to Bali's international airport. The volcano erupted on Tuesday, June 17, unleashing 10,000m of grey clouds into the air, leading Indonesia's Geology Agency to expand the danger zone to eight kilometers from the crater, warning residents to look out for heavy rainfall triggering lava flows. The volcano eruption led to the evacuation of dozens of residents living in the two villages near the volcano, according to the local disaster mitigation agency. Mount Lewotobi Laki Laki erupted in November last year, killing nine individuals and injuring dozens. The volcano erupted again in March of this year, leading to the cancellation and delay of flights into Bali. It last erupted in May, leading authorities to raise the alert level to the most severe.
UAE Moments
an hour ago
- UAE Moments
Various Countries Evacuate Citizens from Iran and Israel
Various countries are evacuating their citizens from Iran and Israel, as flights have been cancelled and airspace has been closed in the Middle East. Most European evacuees leaving Israel have been taken to Jordan or Egypt by bus, where they have boarded flights for their home countries. Evacuation from Iran China, India, and other states have already started evacuating their citizens from Iran. Pakistan evacuated its pilgrims and students from the country recently; nonetheless, hundreds of Pakistanis living in Iran arrived at the Taftan border on Wednesday, making their way back to their home country. China evacuated almost 800 citizens from Iran by moving them from Tehran to Turkmenistan by bus, according to the state-run China News Service. Indian students in Tehran have been moved out of the city, with 110 students being relocated, according to the Indian foreign ministry and media reports. Over 600 people have been evacuated from Iran to Azerbaijan from Friday to Tuesday, according to Reuters. Evacuation from Israel Bulgaria evacuated 148 people from Israel, which included 89 Bulgarian citizens and 59 foreign nationals on Wednesday, June 18. Germany has organized charter flights to Frankfurt in Jordan, but it has said that their citizens must travel by their own means to Amman. Almost 4,000 citizens from Israel and 1,000 in Iran have registered on a crisis list, according to their ministry. Poland has evacuated 200 citizens from Israel and Jordan and moved it diplomatic staff in Iran to Azerbaijan. Greece evacuated 105 of its citizens and foreign nations from Israel. The Japanese government is planning to send a military plane Djibouti to evacuate its citizens from Iran and Israel.
