Key moments in Boeing's recent history

Around 33,000 union members began to strike after rejecting a proposed four-year contract with Boeing. It's the first strike at the company in 16 years. The proposal, which union leadership described as the best it had ever negotiated, would have given raises of at least 25% over the four years.

Boeing announces that Kelly Ortberg will be the new CEO of the company, effective August 8. An engineer by training, Ortberg, 64, had been CEO of aerospace supplier Rockwell Collins, from 2013 to when he left the company in 2021, a few years after it was purchased by United Technologies.

Boeing agrees to plead guilty to defrauding the FAA during the certification process. The company agrees to double the criminal fine it originally agreed to in 2021, from $234 million to $487 million. Boeing also agrees to an outside independent monitor to oversee its activities and a 75% increase in what it would spend on its safety and compliance programs. But no single person yet faces criminal charges, and the fine falls far short of the $24.8 billion family members of the victims wanted Boeing to pay. The family members' attorneys say they would ask a federal judge to reject the plea agreement, as they want a trial.

Boeing announces a $4.7 billion deal to reacquire supplier Spirit AeroSystems , which it had spun off to private equity owners in 2005 for $900 million. The supplier, which made major parts, including the fuselage for the Boeing 737 Max, had suffered its own quality issues that had caused problems for Boeing. Boeing had been forced to give the company additional hundreds of millions of dollars in an effort to improve the quality of the parts it depends on from Spirit. Boeing and Spirit insist the merger will further efforts to improve quality and safety at the companies.

At a briefing for journalists at Boeing's 737 Max factory in Renton, Washington, Boeing said that the lack of paperwork is why the four bolts needed to hold the door plug in place were never installed before the plane left the factory in October on its way to Alaska Airlines. The lack of the bolts is why the door plug blew off of the January 5 flight. The workers who needed to reinstall the bolts never had the work order telling them the work needed to be done, according to a Boeing executive. Two different crews worked on the door plug, one that removed the door plug to fix problems with rivets that were put in place by supplier Spirit AeroSystems, and another that put the door back in place, which they thought was only temporary as the plane moved along the assembly line. But without the necessary paperwork the workers elsewhere on the line were unaware that bolts needed to be reattached.

Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun faces withering criticism during testimony before a Senate subcommittee hearing called to examine Boeing's broken safety culture. Calhoun, in his first congressional testimony, admits that the company's safety culture “is far from perfect,” but insists that management is committed to fixing the problems. But it does little to lessen attacks on him by both Democrats and Republicans. Committee Chair Richard Blumenthal said that the company "continues to prioritize profits, push limits, and disregard its workers." Sen. Josh Hawley, a Missouri Republican, asks Calhoun "Why haven't you resigned?" The hearing includes additional allegations of retaliation against whistleblowers who cited safety issues to Boeing managers.

After years of delays, two uncrewed test flights and a last-minute scrub of a flight a few days before, Boeing finally launches its Starliner spacecraft with two astronauts destined for the International Space Station. Astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams had been expected back on earth after about a week, but problems with helium leaks and thruster outages pushes NASA to keep the astronauts on the station until the company can work out the issues. NASA may keep them there for up to 45 days, or as many as 90 days , to address the problems.

Boeing and the FAA hold a three-hour meeting to go over Boeing's proposals to improve the production quality and safety of its aircraft. The plan includes improvements to employee training, clarification of instructions for assembly line employees, steps to prevent suppliers from shipping defective components to Boeing, and additional FAA audits. The regulator said it was keeping limits in place on Boeing's 737 Max production levels until it is satisfied on production quality.

The Department of Justice announces that Boeing may face criminal charges for violating terms of a January 2021 settlement that deferred prosecution on earlier charges that company employees defrauded the FAA during the original certification process for the Boeing 737 Max. The original agreement would have freed Boeing from the risk of prosecution after complying with the demand that it improve its transparency and compliance with federal rules for three years. But days before that period was due to end, the Alaska Air incident arose the ire of federal watchdogs once more.

The FAA announced an investigation into a whistleblower's complaint that the company took shortcuts when manufacturing its 777 and 787 Dreamliner jets, and that those risks could become catastrophic as the airplanes age. In a statement, the company disputed the complaint and said the engineer's concerns don't "represent the comprehensive work Boeing has done to ensure the quality and long-term safety of the aircraft."

Boeing announces that CEO Dave Calhoun will leave the company at the end of the year as it begins a search for his successor. Stan Deal, CEO of the Boeing Commercial Airplane unit, also announces his retirement, effective immediately.

A LATAM Airlines Boeing 787 flight from Sydney, Australia to Auckland, New Zealand experiences a sharp drop in altitude , sending several passengers flying to the ceiling of the cabin, injuring dozens. A few days after the incident Boeing sent a notice to airlines with the 787 warning them to look at a switch on pilots' seats that, if accidentally triggered, can throw a pilot forward into the controls of the plane, which could possibly cause a nose dive. But it would not comment on whether that was the cause of this incident. Fortunately, the plane was able to land without any further incident.

The FAA flags more potential safety issues with the engines of the 737 Max and 787 Dreamliner, although it does not ground either aircraft. Also on March 1 the State Department fines Boeing $51 million for violating the arms export control act, allowing employees in China and other countries to download sensitive data from numerous defense aircraft and missiles.

The FAA issues a report sharply critical of the culture at Boeing, citing "gaps in Boeing's safety journey." The next day it announces it is giving Boeing 90 days to come up with a plan to fix problems. Subsequent FAA reports find multiple problems with Boeing's production practices following a six-week audit.

A preliminary investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board finds that the Alaska Air plane left a Boeing factory in October missing the four bolts needed to secure the door.

An Alaska Airlines 737 Max 9 flight has a door plug blow out minutes into the flight, causing a gaping hole in the side of the plane. Clothing and phones rip away from passengers and are sent hurtling out of the plane. Fortunately, what could have been a catastrophic accident was avoided with no one sitting next to the hole, and no one was seriously injured.

Boeing announces that the use of a " non-standard manufacturing process " by one of its suppliers, Spirit AeroSystems, meant its production and delivery of the 737 Max would be disrupted, although the planes that had been delivered were allowed to continue to fly.

Boeing announces it is delaying the launch of its next generation jet, the 777X, as well as taking a $660 million charge related to increased costs to deliver the two new jets that are to be used as Air Force One . The losses for the Air Force One jets will eventually top $2 billion.

Boeing discloses it found empty tequila bottles inside one of the two 747 jets being refurbished for use as the next generation of Air Force One.

The FAA announces it is ending the 20-month grounding of the 737 Max, clearing the way for it to again carry passengers. But the grounding has cost Boeing an estimated $20 billion to date, a cost that would creep higher in the following years.

The FAA orders the grounding of eight 787 Dreamliners due to questions about its manufacturing process. While the grounding is brief, it is the start of a series of delivery halts over two years due to questions about whether work was done to specifications.

Boeing announces it is laying off nearly 7,000 workers , after only just 5,500 employees took voluntary buyout packages . The 16,000 job cuts caused by the sharp drop in demand for planes during the pandemic is followed by another 7,000-job reduction announced later in the year.

United Airlines and JetBlue Airways become the first US airlines to slash their flight schedules as the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic prompts passengers to stop flying. By the middle of the month US air travel would be down 96% compared to a year earlier, and US airlines will have cut scheduled flights by 71%. Deep financial losses by airlines around the world would cause massive order cancellations for the 737 Max. Normally canceling orders come with heavy penalties but the prolonged grounding of the jet allowed the orders to be canceled without penalty, further hitting Boeing.

Boeing, which continued to build the 737 Max during the grounding in hopes flights would resume soon, halts production of the plane, an acknowledgement that the fix would not come as soon as hoped.

Boeing releases a flood of internal communication between its employees showing many expressing doubts about the safety of the 737 Max before it is certified to fly passengers. In one famous April 2017 message, an employee described the plane as " designed by clowns , who in turn are supervised by monkeys."

CEO Dennis Muilenburg is fired at the end of a disastrous year for Boeing. He is replaced by David Calhoun, who had been serving as chairman of the company. Muilenburg leaves the company with stock options and other assets valued at $80 million at that time, but with no severance.

An uncrewed test flight by Boeing's Starliner spacecraft is unable to reach the International Space Station as planned and is forced to return to earth. It is the latest in a series of delays and setbacks that forced it to fall far behind SpaceX in its effort to carry astronauts for NASA .

On the anniversary of the first fatal crash, Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg testifies before a Senate committee, apologizing to the families and saying the company “understands and deserves” the scrutiny it had received. He meets with family members after the hearing.

Boeing reports a $3.7 billion loss in the second quarter, its first loss following the Max grounding and what, at that point, was a record loss for the company. Its adjusted losses would reach $31.5 billion through the end of 2023, with no end to the losses in sight.

Boeing for first time acknowledges that a feature on the 737 Max put in place to prevent the plane from climbing too fast and stalling " played a role " in the two fatal crashes. Investigators later attribute the two crashes to the feature, known as MCAS.

The US Federal Aviation Administration orders a grounding of all 737 Max jets, making it one of the last aviation authorities in the world to do so. Its grounding will stay in effect for 20 months.

China grounds all of its 737 Max planes in wake of second crash. Many countries follow with their own groundings in the days ahead.

Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 crashes soon after taking off from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, bound for Nairobi, Kenya, killing all 157 people on board.

Photo gallery: Ethiopian Airlines plane crash

Boeing reports record earnings, revenue tops $100 billion for the first time and the company forecasts better times ahead.

Lion Air Flight 610 crashes into the Java Sea soon after taking off from Jakarta, Indonesia, killing all 189 people on board.

Photo gallery: Lion Air plane crashes off Indonesia