Boeing shares tumbled 8% in premarket trading Thursday following the crash of an Air India 787-8 Dreamliner carrying 242 passengers and crew, marking the first fatal incident involving the aircraft model and reigniting investor concerns over the company's long-troubled safety record.
The aircraft, en route from Ahmedabad, India to London Gatwick, lost contact with air traffic control minutes after takeoff and went down in a civilian area near the Ahmedabad airport. India's federal health minister confirmed "many people" were killed, although an official toll has yet to be released.
The crash casts a shadow over Boeing's recent attempts to restore public trust under new Chief Executive Officer Kelly Ortberg, who took over in August following the departure of Dave Calhoun. Ortberg had pledged a renewed focus on engineering excellence after a turbulent 2024 marred by the Alaska Airlines fuselage blowout and deepening scrutiny over the 737 MAX program.
"It's a knee jerk reaction (to the incident) and there's revised fears of the problems that plagued Boeing aircraft and Boeing itself in recent years," said Chris Beauchamp, analyst at IG Group.
The aircraft involved in Thursday's disaster was 11 years old. While the Dreamliner had previously been grounded due to battery issues early in its operational history, it had not experienced a fatal crash until now. Boeing stated: "We are aware of initial reports and are working to gather more information."
Investor sentiment deteriorated sharply across Boeing's supply chain. Shares of Spirit AeroSystems, which manufactures fuselages for the Dreamliner, fell about 4%, while GE Aerospace-potentially the engine supplier for the crashed aircraft-declined more than 6%. GE Aerospace posted on X that its emergency response team had been activated and that it was "supporting the investigation." The company did not clarify whether its engines were on board the ill-fated jet.
Neil Wilson, a strategist at Saxo UK, said the crash could threaten Boeing's recent rebound. "The incident threatens to undermine recent progress in restoring investor and public confidence," he said.
Boeing shares had closed at $214 on Wednesday, up nearly 25% year to date. The recovery followed a punishing 2024 in which the stock lost 31%, the worst performance among the 30 companies in the Dow Jones Industrial Average.
The 787 Dreamliner, first flown in 2009, was billed as a next-generation widebody aircraft designed to rival Boeing's own 777 series and Airbus's A350. The jet has been a commercial success, but its development was hampered by production delays, structural issues, and repeated FAA interventions.
