United Airlines blames Boeing problems for $200m hit to earnings

United Airlines had to cancel hundreds of flights because of the three-week grounding of Boeing 737 Max 9 aircraft. Photograph: Miguel Rodriguez/Reuters

United Airlines has blamed a $200m (£161m) hit to its earnings in the first three months of the year on the mid-flight blowout that forced it to ground many of its Boeing planes.

The US carrier said the three-week grounding of Boeing’s 737 Max 9 planes after a cabin panel blew out on flight operated by rival Alaska Airlines at the start of January contributed to a $124m loss for the three months up to the end of March.

United, which was forced to cancel hundreds of flights, said it would have reported a quarterly profit without the disruption.

In January, US regulators ordered the temporary grounding of 171 Boeing 737 Max 9 aircraft after the Alaska Airlines flight was forced to make an emergency landing because a mid-cabin door plug blew out at 16,000ft. An initial investigation by the safety watchdog found the panel appeared to have been missing four key bolts.

United Airlines had to ground 79 Max 9 aircraft during the three-week period, the most by any carrier. Alaska Airlines, the airline with the second most Max 9 planes, revealed earlier this month that it received $160m in compensation because of the grounding of flights.

On Tuesday a whistleblower claimed Boeing’s 787 Dreamliners were at risk of premature failure and called for every one of the jets worldwide to be grounded.

Sam Salehpour, who has worked at Boeing as an engineer for more than a decade, alleged that the planemaker took shortcuts to reduce production bottlenecks while making the 787. The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating Salehpour’s claims.

Boeing responded by saying it was fully confident the 787 Dreamliner was safe, adding that criticisms of the structural integrity of the planes were inaccurate.

United Airlines also said on Tuesday that restrictions put in place by the FAA to restrict Boeing’s production capacity meant it would only receive 66 aircraft this year, down 25% on expectations.

The carrier’s chief executive, Scott Kirby, said: “We’ve adjusted our fleet plan to better reflect the reality of what the manufacturers are able to deliver.”

The aircraft delivery delays have forced United to pause pilot hiring and offer voluntary unpaid leave to its pilots.

Despite the Boeing disruption, the carrier reported robust demand for domestic and transatlantic flights, along with a pickup in corporate travel spending.