[sparrc]

Not really. No airplane was ever grounded by the FAA since the 1970s, when they grounded the McDonnell Douglas DC-10.

Since the merger, the FAA has grounded both of Boeing's new planes (The 787 Dreamliner and the 737 Max).

Boeing's safety record is objectively declining. They are shipping out airplanes with safety issues that are being found "in production". This is why their planes are being grounded (something that never happened to Boeing pre-merger).

[wolverine876]

The fact is that very people have been killed by Boeing planes, and you won't be killed in one either.

The FAA's job is to prevent that - to stop it before it happens. I don't at all object to them grounding planes.

[sio8ohPi]

Number of groundings depends on the subjective judgement of FAA employees. It's not useful as an objective measure.

Christ, Boeing planes used to just spontaneously explode back in the 90s, and the only reason more people weren't killed was that two of the three had the good fortune to happen on the ground.

[sparrc]

Modern airplanes should be compared to what is possible in modern times with modern safety standards. If you want an objective measure then compare the Boeing Max planes to their Airbus equivalent: the A320neo.

The A320 neo has had zero fatalities. This is an objective measure that Boeing should be compared against.

AFAIK there have also been zero manufacturing defects at the scale of missing bolts on a door panel.