Airbus says it's observing the backlash to Boeing's door blowout and learning lessons from the saga — even though it wasn't involved

• Airbus will learn lessons from the Boeing 737 Max blowout, said CEO Guillaume Faury.
• The Max 9 lost its door plug in midair after leaving the factory without key bolts, the NTSB said.
• "We are always trying to take all learnings from what's happening in the industry," Faury said.

Airbus is looking to learn lessons from Boeing's troubles following the Alaska Airlines blowout, its CEO said during a Thursday earnings call.

"We're obviously, like many other players in the industry, observing the development after the door plug event," said CEO Guillaume Faury.

He added: "We're obviously not directly involved in this event, but we are always trying to take all learnings from what's happening in the industry."

Boeing has faced criticism from airline bosses and regulators over the last month.

A 737 Max 9 operated by Alaska Airlines lost its door plug, which covers a deactivated emergency exit, in midair on January 5. It caused an uncontrolled decompression so oxygen masks were deployed, but nobody was seriously injured as it returned to Portland International Airport 20 minutes after takeoff.

In its preliminary report, the National Transportation Safety Board said the jet — delivered to the airline just 66 days earlier — left Boeing's factory missing key bolts designed to secure the door plug.

Boeing has invited airlines to oversee its production lines as it tries to regain trust and improve its quality-control processes.

However, the CEO of its biggest customer, United Airlines, suggested he could change its order book due to concerns over delays to the Max 10 — the biggest version of the single-aisle jet.

Bloomberg reported that Airbus then contacted some customers to try to free up delivery slots in attempts to make a deal with United.

Faury said it's still "a bit premature to understand the exact implications" of the blowout, but that it's one of many topics it's using to try to be better.

"We will observe the reaction of the supply chain, of the involved parties, of the regulatory bodies. So that's quite, I would say usual, in terms of trying to take the learnings, even if this event itself is not very usual," he added.