Boeing‘s recent troubles have put some pilots on high alert when they enter the cockpit.
“It gives me even more pause when I get on the airplane,” Dennis Tajer, spokesperson for the Allied Pilots Association and a pilot for American Airlines, told CNBC’s Last Call on Tuesday. “And not a pause of concern of flying it – but making sure I’m watching it like a hawk.”
Multiple incidents involving Boeing planes have made headlines over the past several days, including one in which at least 50 people were injured on a 787 Dreamliner after passengers say it descended rapidly on a flight from Australia to New Zealand. The cause of that incident is under investigation, but carrier LATAM Airlines referred to it as a “technical event.”
On Tuesday, Southwest and Alaska Air said their flying plans were at risk amid Boeing’s ongoing quality-control concerns.
“Every airline is basically fighting to ensure that their network plan is not undermined by this failure of Boeing,” said Tajer, a Boeing 737 captain. “And it changes every day.”
Despite the time he spent flying Boeing 707s in Desert Storm for the U.S. Air Force, Tajer said he thinks about the dangers of flying more than he ever has before.
“I was in the military and Boeing planes saved my tail many times in combat,” Tajer said. “The enemy was outside the airplane. Now it feels like the enemy is within.”
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