Boeing to open factory doors to airlines

Aircraft manufacturer Boeing has vowed to give airlines more oversight of its facilities following an incident with an Alaska Airlines flight in which a part of the plane fell off mid-flight.

Boeing said on Monday that in addition to extra quality control inspections on its 737 production lines, it will allow airlines into both its factories and those of contractor Spirit AeroSystems, which builds the Max 9 fuselage.

"These checks will provide one more layer of scrutiny on top of the thousands of inspections performed today," said chief executive Stan Deal. "Our team is also taking a hard look at our quality practices in our factories and across our production system."

Boeing 737 Max 9s have been grounded in the United States, with both Alaska and United Airlines holding out for emergency inspection guidance from the Federal Aviation Administration.

As of 1515 GMT, Boeing shares were down 0.12% at $217.70 each.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com