Ex-senior staff members of Boeing have warned people to avoid 737 MAX 9 jets, with one saying even saying they 'would absolutely not fly a Max airplane'.
Boeing has been under heavy scrutiny recently following a near-disaster on a 737 MAX 9 plane last month.
On January 5, an Alaskan Airlines flight from Portland, Oregon was forced to make an emergency landing after a panel -known as a door plug - flew off mid-flight, leaving a gaping hole in the side of the aircraft.
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Following the incident, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) grounded all Boeing 737 MAX 9 planes with door plugs pending an investigation.
Hundreds of flights were also cancelled as a result.
Now, as the jets take back to the skies, a former high-level Boeing manager has urged people to avoid the airplanes.
"I would absolutely not fly a MAX airplane," ex-Boeing senior manager, Ed Pierson told the Los Angeles Times. "I’ve worked in the factory where they were built, and I saw the pressure employees were under to rush the planes out the door."
Joe Jacobsen, a former Boeing engineer who has also worked at the FAA, gave a similar warning, saying that the jet's return was 'premature.'
"I would tell my family to avoid the MAX," he told the outlet. "I would tell everyone, really."
Jacobsen also said that he believed the company has been 'trying to maximize profits' for years, prioritizing money over quality control and safety.
"For the last 20 years, they’ve gone in this continual direction of towards financial engineering instead of technical engineering," he explained, arguing that Boeing would only fix issues once a problem began to emerge.
Following the Alaskan Airlines incident last month, Boeing President and CEO David Calhoun admitted that a 'quality escape' had occurred but told employees: "This can never happen again."
Last week, he emailed employees telling them that the accident 'makes it absolutely clear that we have more work to do' to 'strengthen our safety and quality processes.'
But, it wasn't the first time a serious safety issue had occurred with a 737 MAX aircraft.
The 737 MAX 8 was involved in two fatal crashes in 2018 and 2019 that resulted in the deaths of nearly 400 passengers and crew.
And, a study was published in September that found that airlines had filed more than 1,300 reports about safety problems on Boeing’s MAX 8 and MAX 9 airplanes with the FAA.
Pierson, who had tried to 'get them shut down' before the 2018 crash has called the decision to return the aircraft to service 'another example of poor decision making' that 'risks the public safety.'
UNILAD has contacted Boeing for further comment.
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Bec Oakes