(BFM Stock Exchange) – Boeing action fell 4.7% to Wall Street on Thursday. The 787 Air India crash revives the spectrum of a risk of reputation for the company and poses operational threats. This when the company had just returned to market favors, especially on production.

The old demons of Boeing are resurfaced. Thursday a 787-8 plane from the Air India company crashed into India, causing at least 260 dead. The 787 of Boeing had so far known any fatal accident and presented “a robust assessment in terms of security”, according to Jefferies.

The aircraft also remains a flagship model of the Airbus rival, Boeing saying that it is the best-selling large driver in the world with more than 2,000 orders with 89 customers.

“The 787 is a bit of the flagship plane of the Boeing fleet, it is a plane that is very popular with airlines because it is a plane that consumes little fuel oil, it is a plane made of relatively light composite materials, so it’s a bit the plane put forward today in Boeing,” said Éric Lafrenière, manager at Sunny Am, on News Bulletin 247 on Thursday.

On Thursday, the Boeing action suffered from Wall Street without collapsing. The title abandoned 4.8% and further fell by 1.5% in pre -opening this Friday.

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“Herculean tasks”

The causes of the accident are not yet known. It is therefore impossible to know if the aircraft manufacturer has a responsibility or not in the accident.

“We are in contact with Air India about flight 171 and are ready to support them. Our thoughts go to passengers, crew, first stakeholders and all those affected,” the company said in a statement.

The MorningStar design office expects “several investigations to determine the cause” of the crash.

Boeing has seen his reputation tarnished in recent years by a series of incidents. The group above all suffered from the 737 max crisis, single -offs that are in competition with the A320 NEO family from Airbus.

The 737 Max had experienced two tragic accidents in 2018 and 2019 which had caused 346 dead. The 737 Max had been banned from thefts, especially in Europe and the United States, for many months.

These setbacks had reinforced the competitive advantage of Airbus in the key segment of single -offs, the most dynamic on the market. “While Boeing continues to deal with production quality problems and increased regulatory surveillance, Airbus has won significant market share although it is also confronted with a constrained supply chain,” Royal Bank of Canada wrote in May 2024.

In 2022, Airbus claimed a market share of 60% in this niche.

The fatal accident on the 787 occurs especially when Boeing was starting to draw a line on this 737 max crisis. The group recently sent encouraging signals and experienced a revival of form, both stock market and operational.

Before Thursday, the action took more than 20% since the start of the year largely outperforming the S&P 500, almost stable since the start of the year.

Bank of America stresses that its new director general, Kelly Ortberg, has completed “Herculean” tasks, notably with the implementation of security and quality control systems, a point that has been lacking in the group in the past.

“A new uncertainty”

Boeing has also improved its production on production. In the first quarter, deliveries increased by 57% over a year and the group recalled wanting to reach by the end of the year a monthly production pace of 38 aircraft 737 max. The action had taken up 6% in the wake of the publication of these quarterly results.

This good dynamic of deliveries contrasts a little with that of Airbus, which is currently late on its passing times to be able to hold its objective of 820 planes delivered in 2025.

The crash of the 787 comes to throw a great shadow on this recovery. “While Aireberg seemed to gain ground and attracting cautious praise for the discipline and the rigor he brought to the company in difficulty for a long time, the terrible crash of an airplane 787 of Air India for London came to what extent it is difficult for aircraft manufacturers to regain confidence,” comments Bloomberg.

“The accident of 787 introduces a new uncertainty. If surveys reveal a quality manufacturing or control problem, an area in which Boeing remains under surveillance, this could trigger a new wave of regulatory pressures, even the temporary immobilization of certain 787”, dissects Saïma Hussain, analyst in the independent alphavalue design office.

“Conversely, if the cause lies in the Air India maintenance or exploitation procedures, Boeing could be spared from greater responsibility, but could nevertheless suffer from an attack on its reputation,” she continues.

Reinforced Airbus?

Above all, the analyst notes that this crash and its consequences are likely to interrupt the smooth running that Boeing has so far followed on his production.

“Any disturbance in the production of the 787 would intervene at a particularly delicate moment, while Boeing begins to stabilize its flow of production and to regain the confidence of its customers,” said Saïma Hussain.

“This incident could therefore compromise the recent delivery dynamics of Boeing, at the very moment when the company began to reduce the gap that separated it from Airbus,” warns the analyst.

Another problem: with this accident (and according to the conclusions of the survey) Airbus risks gaining market share on large-bearing, with more orders from A350, for example.

“Although the survey is only in its infancy, this incident represents a potentially important opposite wind for the fragile resumption of Boeing. Investors will closely follow the regulatory reactions, the conclusions of the survey and the feeling of the customers in the coming weeks,” she concludes.