Boeing shares tumbled 4.8% Monday after the Wall Street Journal reported the planemaker found a software glitch that could cause the 737 MAX's autopilot to fail during a go-around landing. Boeing says there's no safety risk and is already working on a patch, but the FAA is reviewing the issue and two major airlines have refused new deliveries with the flawed software.
Boeing shares fall on autopilot glitch report
Boeing stock tumbled 4.8% through 11:10 a.m. ET Monday, underperforming a broader stock market decline, after the Wall Street Journal reported the company found a new software glitch on its 737 MAX airliners. The report says the glitch could cause an automated navigation feature to fail.
The issue centers on the plane's autopilot. According to the report, the system may not perform as intended when a pilot misses a first landing approach and inputs a new flight path to try again — forcing the pilot to land the aircraft manually instead.
Boeing says there's no safety risk, but regulators are watching
Boeing denies the glitch poses any safety risk, but the company is working on a patch regardless. The Federal Aviation Administration is also looking into the issue.
The glitch was apparently introduced only in the most recent software update, so one temporary fix would be reinstalling the previous version. That still leaves a bigger question: what to do about the 2,422 Boeing 737 MAX 8 and 9 aircraft already flying worldwide, some of which may carry the flawed update and some of which may not.
Airlines push back on new deliveries
At least two major Boeing customers, Southwest Airlines and United Airlines, have told Boeing they won't accept delivery of any new 737 MAX aircraft with the buggy software installed. Boeing is hoping to get the software fixed and a patch issued by "early 2028," meaning the issue could linger for some time.
Boeing's market cap stood at $157 billion as shares traded at $188.55 following the drop.
Source: The Motley Fool
Trading involves risk.
Risk Disclaimer
