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The world’s Boeing 737 Max 9s remain grounded today after inspectors found loose bolts in aircraft flown by the model’s two main users – United Airline and Alaska Airlines. The fleet has been grounded since a fuselage “plug” fell off an Alaska Airlines plane soon after takeoff from Portland, Oregon, last week, leading to depressurisation and an emergency landing. Boeing’s stock price has fallen by 8 per cent since the accident, which refocuses investors’ attention on one of the most important cost-saving decisions in the company’s history – to adapt the 50 year-old 737 rather than do a full redesign when market pressures forced Airbus as well as Boeing to find ways to squeeze more passengers into their most popular single-aisle jets. Both companies lengthened their planes’ fuselages and installed bigger engines, but whereas this was easy for Airbus because its A320 sat high off the ground, it was harder for the squat 737, whose engines had to be mounted further forward of the wings. That led indirectly to two fatal crashes killing 346 people in 2019, and to highly critical scrutiny of Boeing’s management and culture. Expect more of the same.