Delta CEO confident Boeing will learn from mid-air panel incident

By Rajesh Kumar Singh

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian said he was confident Boeing would learn from an incident last week involving a mid-air blowout of a cabin panel on one of the U.S. planemaker's jets.

In an interview, Bastian said he has been in communications with Boeing after the Alaska Airlines accident. He expressed confidence that Boeing will continue to provide Delta as well as the airline industry with "a great product going forward."

Bastian's comments to Reuters came as the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration has grounded 171 Boeing 737 MAX 9 jets, pending safety inspections, and is probing potential flaws in the company's manufacturing process.

There is still no clarity when the grounded planes will be cleared to be back in service. The accident has rekindled frustration among airlines over the planemaker's struggle to contain a series of safety and supply crises.

Delta does not have MAX 9 in its fleet, and it has no plans to operate the model either, Bastian said.

The Atlanta-based airline has MAX 10 jets on order for deliveries beginning next year. But the plane - the largest version of Boeing's bestselling narrowbody jet - is still awaiting FAA certification.

Bastian deflected questions on whether he was concerned the accident could slow down the MAX 10 certification process or warranted a review of the order.

He called Boeing "a great company" that is important to the airline industry and the United States.

"I'm confident that we will continue to learn from these events," Bastian said. "And Boeing will continue to provide Delta as well as our industry with a great product going forward."

Boeing and its MAX planes have been under scrutiny ever since crashes of the more widely-sold MAX 8 killed 346 people in 2018 and 2019. That led to worldwide groundings for 20 months.

(Reporting by Rajesh Kumar Singh; Editing by Jamie Freed)