Just months after returning to the skies, Boeing’s troubled 737 Max jet is facing another setback.
Boeing said Friday that it had notified 16 airlines and other customers of a potential electrical problem with the Max and recommended that they temporarily stop flying some planes. The company refused to say how many planes were affected, but four U.S. airlines said they would stop using nearly 70 Max jets. Boeing would not say how long the planes would be sidelined.
Airlines and Boeing have tried hard in the last several months to convince passengers that the Max is safe. This latest problem is sure to spur further doubt among some travelers about the plane.
The affected airlines should verify that a component of the electrical power system on certain Max planes is sufficiently fastened, the plane maker said. The statement comes just months after companies resumed flying the jet, which had been grounded for nearly two years because of a pair of accidents that killed nearly 350 people.
“We are working closely with the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration on this production issue,” Boeing said in a statement. “We are also informing our customers of specific tail numbers affected and we will provide direction on appropriate corrective actions.”
The F.A.A. said that Boeing notified it late Thursday of the problem, which could affect the operation of a backup power control unit. The agency said it was working with the company and its customers. “It is premature to estimate the amount of time required as it could take a matter of hours or a few days,” Boeing said.
Boeing’s share price was down more than 1 percent around 12:30 p.m. and analysts said the problem did not appear significant.
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“The fix seems to be well understood and timing would depend on availability of technicians and equipment access,” analysts at Jeffries, an investment bank, said in a note.
The Max was banned from flying globally in March 2019 because of the crashes, in Indonesia and Ethiopia. After a lengthy review, the F.A.A. allowed the Max to fly again in November, provided that Boeing and airlines made changes to the jet, including updating its flight control software and rerouting some electrical wiring. Boeing and the F.A.A. said the potential electrical issue flagged this week was unrelated to that earlier directive.
Since the F.A.A. review, aviation regulators around the world have also approved the plane. As of late March, 17 Boeing customers had returned the plane to service, using it for nearly 14,000 flights.
American Airlines, Southwest Airlines and United Airlines, the top three operators of the Max, said they had removed 63 planes from service. And Alaska Airlines said it had removed all four of its Max jets.
Southwest Airlines, which operates an all-Boeing fleet and is one of the biggest users of the Max, said that 30 of its 58 Max jets were affected by the notification. The airline said it had only 15 or fewer Max jets scheduled to fly each day, and it was swapping those planes for others in its 737 fleet.
United said that 16 of its 30 Max planes were affected by Boeing’s announcement and that they would not be used to carry passengers. American Airlines said that the issue affected 17 of its most recently delivered planes, all of which have been temporarily sidelined. American said that 24 Max planes delivered before the plane’s use was suspended were unaffected.
