Boeing Co. said on Friday it had told some 737 MAX operators to inspect planes for potential electrical problems, prompting airlines to remove the aircraft from service.
The company said aircraft flown by 16 airlines were affected by the issue discovered during production of an undelivered jet in Seattle. The MAX re-entered service in December having been grounded since March 2019 following two fatal accidents.
Boeing didn’t disclose how many planes were affected and said it was too early to know how long it would take to inspect the planes, ensure that the affected part is correctly installed and make any required fixes.
The electrical issue relates to a component unrelated to the automated flight-control system malfunction that led to the crashes of planes flown by Indonesia’s Lion Air in October 2018 and Ethiopian Airlines in March 2019, according to a Boeing spokesperson. Boeing shares were down 1.3% in early trade.
American Airlines Group Inc. said it was notified of the potential production issue with the electrical component on Thursday night. The airline said it took 17 of its most recently delivered MAX aircraft out of service to complete necessary inspections. American still has 24 other MAX jets in its fleet that it said were produced before the plane was recertified by regulators last year.
