Boeing's Turbulent Times: Safety Concerns and Market Share Challenges

Boeing is currently facing a plethora of potential business losses, with their CEO Dave Calhoun announcing he will step down at the end of 2024. This is following continued questions and concerns about the manufacturing process after a multitude of malfunctions with Boeing products have occurred in the past couple of months.

In early January, a Boeing 737 Delta flight lost a wheel on the runway during takeoff, causing the plane to be evacuated and travelers to be moved to a separate flight. A United Airlines Boeing aircraft was forced to make an emergency landing in Texas after its engine caught on fire mid flight. A faulty door panel in a Boeing 737 Alaskan Airlines flight door caused public outrage when the door flew open midair during the flight. This led to the FAA conducting an audit of Boeing's process, which identified over a dozen red flags and led to the stock price being down over 26 percent in 2024 alone.

Airbus is probably the biggest culprit of Boeing's woes, as they now have stepped into control of 62% of the market share which is expected to rise due to airlines fear of ordered Boeing aircrafts. Experts do not anticipate that Boeing will ever gain over 40% of the industry in the lifeline of the two competing firms. In 2023 alone, Airbus recorded a net profit of 3.79 Billion USD while Boeing generated a loss of 2.2 Billion USD. Airbus’s gains can also be attributed to their emphasis on comfort and fuel efficiency in comparison to Boeing emphasis on speed and range in an economy that is shifting more towards commercial travel. 

Airbus currently has a much larger share of dominance in European markets due to its endorsement by the European union government and airlines. Airbus was formed by a merger of various European companies and has a registered headquarters in the Netherlands but its head office is located in France. Airbus’s top customers consist of IndiGo and AirAsia Malaysia contributing to over 1,300 planes combined with those two firms. Boeing has typically remained dominant in North America with its operation occurring in Seattle. It has a contract with the United States Air Force and military, which typically accounts for around 33 percent of Boeing's total fleet. Late 2023, Airbus completed its attempt at attacking and conquering the North American Market by building an aircraft production facility in Mobile Alabama that has added over 1,000 new Airbus workers on American soil. This expansion strategy is similar to when Boeing established a 40 Million USD production facility in Sheffield to produce its Boeing 737, 737 MAX and the 767 aircraft. As for the Asia pacific market, China and India tend to lean towards Airbus while Boeing has significant fleets in Japan and Australia. Boeing is anticipated to lose a lion share of Middle East Business, as the CEO of Emirates Tim Clark criticized Boeing’s leadership when he said that Emirates is going to “move on out of the Max era,” referring to the purchases of Boeing's 737 Max aircrafts.

Looking ahead, Boeing will work more closely with the Federal Aviation Administration and continue to evaluate its production weaknesses and look at solutions within the firm. The firm has assured investors and travelers that its primary focus in 2024 will be to strengthen the quality of new aircrafts. Given the current monopoly of the industry and Boeing's pre-existing infrastructure, Boeing will almost certainly continue to be a force in the field. It remains to be seen how current orders are affected by Boeing's public failures and we will find out in the coming years how this will impact Boeing’s long term financial health.