Specialist
Former Director, Federal Aviation Administration Headquarters, Aviation Safety at Federal Aviation Administration (SP 1); Former President, North America at Aerosafe Risk Management Inc (SP 2)
Agenda
- Boeing's (NYSE: BA) financial repercussion and threat of China's trade war
- Investigation of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) certification process and credibility
- Discussion around quality control, pilot training, and regulatory bodies consensus
- Outlook for Boeing, FAA, and commercial airlines
Questions
1.
What are your thoughts on the recent events surrounding Boeing and the 737 Max plane and the FAA? What are the main points to keep an eye on as investors in this space?
2.
To what extent can the Max issues be solved via a software fix compared to additional hardware being required?
3.
What is the process and timeline to end the groundings for the Max? You mentioned that it is likely not going to require recertification.
4.
What is a best- and worst-case scenario of weeks or months that the Max can get back up in the air? What is a potential timeline?
5.
Is there a different timeline for each regulatory body to approve and recertify the Maxes? Is it that once the FAA decides, the rest will fall in line with that decision?
6.
You both mentioned that at some point there’s going to be some retraining required by pilots. Is that retraining process just spending a couple of hours in the simulator? Can you describe the process?
7.
Do you feel that Boeing has suffered any reputational damage in the eyes of the pilots? Is this irreversible?
8.
In the eyes of the public, has there been any reputational damage? Could this seriously deter commercial flight demand?
9.
You mentioned that more experienced pilots prefer the Boeing brand in general. Will that change long term? How do you think pilots will react to this? Are they still going to be fine with flying the 737 Max?
10.
The relationship between the FAA and Boeing has fallen under the microscope lately. What do you think about continuing to let manufacturers self-certify the safety of their planes? Are there any other viable options?
11.
What is Boeing’s responsibility in terms of financial liability? Where does its reliability start and end, and in what ways will it suffer financial loss due to these crashes?
12.
What are the best- and worst-case scenarios for Boeing – worst case excluding another crash?
