Al Root
On Friday, a Boeing 767 operated by Delta Air Lines returned to a New York airport after experiencing in-flight vibrations. It turns out the evacuation-slide panel on the right wing had opened.
Any incident involving a Boeing jet will create a buzz after the emergency-door-plug blowout from a 737 MAX 9 jet operated by Alaska Air Group on Jan. 5. Focusing on safety is always a good idea for aerospace investors. Understanding safety incidents is important, too.
The plane in question was delivered in 1990, and been in service for more than 33 years. The plane has had no incidents before this, according to the safety database maintained by the National Transportation Safety Board, or NTSB.
Boeing referred Barron's to Delta about the incident. The airline didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
The NTSB database shows that since 1983, there have been 105 incidents in the U.S. involving 767 jets. Two of the planes involved in the 9/11 attacks were 767 model jets.
That works out to about two-plus incidents a year. Incidents vary in terms of severity and who is responsible, but safety authorities try to track everything.
The 105 figure isn't good or bad. It's simply a number that investors should keep in mind. Incident frequency, aircraft age, and the nature of the problem all matter when evaluating whether something matters for the company -- or its shares.
The NTSB has recorded 483 incidents involving 737 model jets over a similar span.
That's also just a number. It's higher because there are far more 737 jets than 767 jets. Coming into 2024, Boeing had delivered 273 767 jets in the U.S. over the past 20 years. It delivered almost 2,800 jets carrying the 737 moniker over the same span.
Investors aren't reacting much to the 767 incident. Delta stock was up 0.6% in midday trading on Monday, and Boeing shares were up 3%. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite were both up about 0.3%.
The gains still leave shares down about 34% year to date. Most of those losses happened after the Jan. 5 incident.
That incident mattered -- a lot -- for Boeing stock because the plane involved was new, and because the problem was tied back to manufacturing-quality issues. The MAX door-plug incident has led to slower production and more oversight by commercial-aviation regulators.
Corrections & Amplifications: The National Transportation Safety Board's database shows 105 incidents involving 767 model jets in the U.S. over the past 40 years, a rate of about 2.6 per year. An earlier version of this article incorrectly said the rate was "about one every other year."
Write to Al Root at allen.root@dowjones.com
This content was created by Barron's, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. Barron's is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
April 29, 2024 13:29 ET (17:29 GMT)
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