Antony Blinken's Grounded Flight Intensifies Boeing's Crisis: Trust Plummets In Latest Survey

Airplane manufacturer The Boeing Company BA has faced a series of setbacks related to its popular Boeing 737 plane.

Compounding the problems, a high-ranking Biden Administration official had to switch planes because of issues with a 737.

What Happened: U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken was forced to deplane and switch from a modified Boeing 737 after attending the World Economic Forum, commonly known as Davos.

According to a report from CNN, Blinken was forced to deplane and make the switch after a critical failure related to an oxygen leak was reported on the Boeing 737. The incident delayed Blinken's flight to get back to Washington, D.C.

A spokesperson for Blinken said the plane suffered a mechanical issue that forced the passengers to deplane and alternative plans made to get Blinken home Wednesday night. A smaller aircraft was sent for the Secretary, and several members of his traveling party took commercial flights home.

The news comes after an incident on Jan. 5 that saw a Boeing 737 plane have a door plug blow out during an Alaska Air Group Inc ALK flight. The situation where the plane developed a hole while flying at 16,000 feet has led to images that could understandably leave many feeling apprehensive about flying in the near future.

Blinken's 737 was an older version of the well-known Boeing airplane and a modified version used by the U.S. military.

Boeing faced multiple issues with the older 737 Max, including flights in 2018 in Indonesia and 2019 in Ethiopia that resulted in fatalities. These events led to the planes being grounded for several months.

Related Link: Passengers Hit Boeing With Lawsuit: Ill-Fated Alaska Airlines Flight Was ‘Waking Nightmare’

Why It's Important: No one was injured during the Jan. 5 flight, but Boeing now faces the aftermath that has led to the grounding of all 737 Max 9 jets for inspections by airlines, checking for faulty assembly and missing or loose bolts that could cause similar incidents.

Images from the plane and the experiences shared by those on board the Alaska Air flight may have impacted trust in planes made by Boeing.

A new survey from Morning Consult shows net trust in Boeing has declined by double digits.

The survey, which was conducted after the Jan. 5 incident, asked U.S. adults who were familiar with the Boeing brand if they trusted the company. Net trust is defined as the share of people who trust the brand minus the share who distrust the brand.

The survey found a 20% net trust rating for Boeing in the January survey, which was down 12 percentage points from the same survey in December.

Frequent flyers polled had 28% net trust in Boeing, which was down from 41% in December. Business travelers polled had 34% net trust in Boeing, which was down from 43% in December.

The survey found overall net trust and net trust from frequent flyers down double digits compared to the previous month.

BA Price Action: Boeing shares trade at $211.92 versus a 52-week trading range of $176.25 to $267.54. Shares of Boeing are flat over the last year and are down 19% year-to-date in 2024.

Read Next: Boeing’s Rough Ride: Airline Industry Demands Tighter Safety Measures As Stocks Nosedive

Photo: Shutterstock