Boeing stock plunges as Alaska Airlines incident adds to woes

Shares in Boeing fell as much as 8% in pre-market trade on Monday, wiping $12 billion off the aerospace giant’s stock market value. It comes

Shares of Boeing and one of its key suppliers dropped sharply in pre-market trade on Monday as investors grow worried about possible damage to the businesses after a piece of fuselage on a Boeing 737 Max 9 blew out mid-flight. The Alaska Airlines flight, which had been travelling from Portland, Oregon, to Ontario, California, on Friday, made an emergency landing after part of the wall of the aircraft detached itself, leaving a gaping hole in the side of the plane. The cause of the incident has not been determined. The Federal Aviation Administration on Saturday ordered all Boeing 737 Max 9 aircraft to be grounded until they can be carefully inspected. The order applies to 171 planes around the world, and airlines in Turkey and Panama have also grounded flights. Aviation trial attorney Robert Clifford told CNN the incident will have reputational repercussions for Boeing and the company will likely be on the hook to pay airlines for lost revenue. Shares in Boeing (BA) fell as much as 8.6%, while shares of aerospace supplier Spirit AeroSystems (SPR) were down as much as 18%. The company manufactured and completed the initial installation of part of the plane’s fuselage, Reuters reported, citing unnamed sources. Spirit did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The incident is the latest in a long string of problems for Boeing. Since the grounding of the 737 Max in March 2019, following two crashes that killed 346 people, Boeing’s financial losses have mounted.