Comfortable Flying on Boeing Planes? Here’s What You Need to Know
It must be over 15 years since I've flown anywhere and I'm long-overdue for a trip. But if you're like me, you're a little apprehensive to get on a plane. At least some types of planes. Okay, specifically Boeing airplanes.
The company is having a tough go of it lately.
CRASHES AND INCIDENTS
First, there were deadly crashes of Boeing's 737 MAX 8 jets in 2018 and 2019 that killed 346 people. National Transportation Safety Board Investigators linked the crashes to a new automatic flight control feature. That led to the grounding of the 737 MAX jets for months.
Earlier this year, a rear door plug blew out of an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 9 jet. The National Transportation Safety Board says that happened because four bolts that keep the plug in place were missing. The NTSB ruled the incident an accident.
And this week, whistleblowers -- engineers and others who have worked for Boeing -- testified before Congress that 777 model jetliners and 787 Dreamliners "are not being made to spec." They're concerned the planes are unsafe to fly and could come apart in mid-flight. Boeing denies that claim.
Something's going on here. Too many weird things have been going on. What's the saying -- "where there's smoke there's fire"?
CHECK YOUR AIRCRAFT TYPE
If you're concerned -- or even just interested -- it's easy to find out the aircraft you're flying on your trip.
The website FlyTrippers.com has a guide on how to easily find which "equipment" the airline will be operating on your flight.
FlyTrippers says the easiest way is to go to the airline's website and click on the "Details" tab for your booked flight, or under "Additional Information" or something like that.
For example, I used Google Flights to search for a Minneapolis to Dallas (MSP - DFW) flight on May 3rd. The flight number and equipment are listed if you click on the arrow icon.
So, does it make sense in this case to pay the extra $30 and fly an Airbus A220 instead of a Boeing 737? That's an individual choice -- but a decision you can more easily make by doing a little online searching.