Something is amiss at Air India, especially with the 787 aircraft from aerospace stock Boeing (BA), as reports emerged of another 787 flight that found itself with some unexpected mechanical deficiencies. The reports suggest this particular issue took place before the disaster of Flight 171, and featured something very odd about the doors. But Boeing investors took this news in stride, and sent shares up modestly in Monday afternoon’s trading.
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The incident in question happened June 1, reports note, though the word only emerged recently. Apparently, it was a flight from Delhi to Hong Kong that featured a door on a 787 that started “hissing and growling” after an hour into the flight itself. Flight attendants who investigated the matter noted “a thin gap at the top of the door,” and, believing that that was where the noises originated from, took it upon themselves to seal the gap with a set of paper napkins.
The flight ultimately reached Hong Kong without incident, and reports of “noisy doors” on 787 flights have come out before. Two cases emerged in 2022, and a third was found all the way back in 2019 in a Japan Airlines flight. All three flights were diverted back to departure points, but pilots pointed out that, no matter how unnerving a growling door might be, there was no “…major risk to flight safety.”
A New Deal With the Pentagon?
Meanwhile, reports note that Boeing is increasingly optimistic about its chances of making a new deal with the Pentagon. While earlier reports suggested that the Pentagon might be looking to pull back on earlier orders for airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) aircraft—specifically the E-7 Wedgetail—Boeing’s chief of defense, Steve Parker, figures the sale will ultimately go through.
Parker noted that he “…believe(s) E-7 Wedgetail will be in the US Air Force inventory in large numbers.” This is at odds with earlier remarks from Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, who noted that future operations in intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) would be better served as a space-based function rather than via aircraft.
Is Boeing a Good Stock to Buy Right Now?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Strong Buy consensus rating on BA stock based on 16 Buys, three Holds and one Sell assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After a 10.97% rally in its share price over the past year, the average BA price target of $221.56 per share implies 10.21% upside potential.
