Boeing CEO denies 737 Max design control flaw

Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed al-Maktoum, CEO of Emirates and president of Dubai’s Civil Aviation Authority, one of Boeing’s largest customer has threatened to order aircraft from its arch-rival, and  seek compensation for the grounding of 14 737 Max jets at Emirates’ sister airline Flydubai, which has more than 230 on order.  He added that Flydubai could order Airbus A320neos as replacements for the Max jets, as the embattle US airline’s CEO sought to shore up investor confidence following the crisis over its 737 Max aircraft.

Dennis Muilenburg told shareholders at the company’s annual meeting yesterday that  Boeing would ensure the 737 was “ the safest aeroplane out there to fly” and rejected criticisms of its design in the wake of two crashes that killed 346 people.

Facing the media for the first time since the Ethiopian Airlines crash last month Mr Muilenberg defended the design of the Max as safe, including the manoeuvring characteristics augmentation system (MCAS) identified by regulators in Indonesia and Ethiopia as having played a role in both crashes. “ We followed exactly the steps in our design and certification process that consistently produced safe aeroplanes”, hinted that pilot error had played a critical role in both crashes.