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Boeing (NYSE:BA) shares tumbled 8% in premarket trading after one of its 787-8 Dreamliners operated by Air India crashed near Ahmedabad, India, raising fresh doubts about the plane's safety. Boeing's suppliers also felt the pain, with GE Aerospace (NYSE:GE) slipping 4.4% and Spirit AeroSystems (NYSE:SPR) down 4% on mounting investor concern.
The Air India flight, bound for London Gatwick, departed at 1:38 p.m. local time with 242 people on board169 Indian nationals, 53 U.K. citizens, one Canadian and seven Portuguesebefore plowing into a residential neighborhood shortly after takeoff. Air India confirmed that the injured were rushed to nearby hospitals, though the fatality count remains unclear.
Until this tragedy, the Dreamlinerintroduced in 2011boasted an unblemished fatal-accident record. Boeing acknowledged the incident in a statement, saying it was aware of initial reports and working to gather more information, while regulators in India and the U.S. prepare to launch parallel investigations.
Investors should brace for potential delays in Boeing's delivery schedules and higher scrutiny from global aviation authorities, which could drive up compliance costs and weigh on margins. With airlines and lessors already reeling from supply-chain bottlenecks, any grounding or retrofits of Dreamliners would add further pressure to Boeing's recovery path.
As safety questions mount, the market will look to India's Directorate General of Civil Aviation and the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration for preliminary findings in the coming weeks.
This article first appeared on GuruFocus.