These are worrying hours for Boeing Co.—and tragic ones for 157 families. Once again, an almost brand new Boeing Co. 737 Max 8, belonging to the Ethiopian Airlines this time, crashed not long after take off as it flied erratically and pilots requested a return to the airport.
Unfortunately for Boeing, the disaster immediately drew comparisons with a Lion Air 737 Max crash in Indonesia in October that killed 189 people, pushing the Chicago-based plane-maker a step closer to a crisis and prompting questions about whether a design issue that arose during the earlier accident could be to blame for Sunday’s plane crash too. The stakes for Boeing and one of its most popular aircraft models are enormous. The sale of the 737 Max generates almost a third of the company’s operating profit.
