Iata director general Will Walsh is “very confident” that Boeing will overcome its current production difficulties.

The former IAG chief executive told the Aerospace Tech Week trade show the industry should support Boeing which faced further claims about 787 production by a whistleblower this week.

Walsh played down speculation that Boeing’s woes was an opportunity for Chinese aircraft manufacturer Comac to break into the airframe market.

He said as a former Boeing pilot and having bought many of the manufacturer’s aircraft in his career he has spent a lot of time talking to executive from the US firm.

The issue with the plug door which fell off an Alaskan Airways 737 Max 9 jet in January was a “major wake up call”.

He said the incident highlighted issues in the production line which were not apparent although “you could argue they should have been”.

But he said an incident like this prompts the industry to understand what happened and what caused it and then make changes.

“I believe Boeing will address this. A lot of issues highlighted in the media are not Boeing specific.

“As an industry we have got to support Boeing, we need Boeing. It’s important for the industry we have major airframe manufacturers and that they are in good health and compete with one another.

“I’m confident that Boeing will sort it out. There is a lot of work to do but based on what I’ve seen I’m confident that these issues will be resolved.”

Walsh pointed out that 2023 was the safest year ever for the aviation industry. “You have to separate the facts and the data from the way it’s being reported. The data is very important.

“These issues happen and the industry and the industry is safe because when they do happen we do not hide from them and ignore them, we go into great detail to understand why they happened.

“You do not get a strong safety record by trying to ignore things and cover them up. We have a very open industry, much more today because of social media. We look at this as an opportunity to improve what’s already a very good performance.”

Walsh said he was in no doubt that Comac will eventually achieve its goals and the manufacturer will join Boeing, Airbus and Embraer as a major global manufacturer.

He said today there are only a handful of 919s in commercial service and the firm is not yet certified by Easa or the FAA. “There is a long way to go,” he said. “It’s right to focus on the Chinese domestic market for the time being.

“There’s a long, long way to go. I do not think this provides an opportunity for Comac. Maybe in the next 10 or 15 years, but not in the next two, three, four or five.”