Boeing officials outlined their strategy to enhance manufacturing quality and safety during a three-hour meeting on Thursday with federal officials. These officials will continue to enforce restrictions on the company following a fuselage panel blowout incident in January.
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) chief Mike Whitaker described Boeing’s plan as comprehensive, emphasizing the importance of encouraging employees to voice safety concerns.
“This is a guide for a new way for Boeing to do business,” Whitaker stated after the meeting. “Boeing has laid out their road map, and now they need to execute.”
Boeing has released an 11-page summary of its “Product Safety and Quality Plan,” detailing steps such as increased inspections and tighter controls over suppliers, along with metrics to measure improvement.
CEO David Calhoun, who announced his resignation effective at the end of the year following the Jan. 5 blowout during an Alaska Airlines flight, emphasized that the plan incorporates feedback from employees, the FAA, airlines, and independent experts.
“Many of these actions are underway, and our team is committed to executing on each element of the plan,” Calhoun said in a statement. “It is through this continuous learning and improvement process that our industry has made commercial aviation the safest mode of transportation. The actions we are taking today will further strengthen that foundation.”
Stephanie Pope, recently promoted to Chief Operating Officer and Chief Executive of Boeing’s commercial airplanes division, and a potential successor to Calhoun, stated that the plan aims to improve employee training, streamline manufacturing, “eliminate defects at the source, and elevate our safety and quality culture.”
The January 5 blowout incident involved a door plug on a relatively new Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 Max 9 flying over Oregon. Accident investigators found that bolts securing the panel were missing after a repair job in a Boeing factory. While no injuries occurred, the incident damaged Boeing’s reputation, led to multiple investigations, and prompted Whitaker to request the comprehensive report presented on Thursday.
Whitaker emphasized the plan’s focus on improving manufacturing processes, quality, and safety management, and fostering a culture where employees are encouraged to raise safety concerns. “Those are all elements of the plan,” Whitaker noted, adding that Boeing had accepted all safety recommendations from an independent panel earlier this year.
Despite these measures, the FAA will continue to cap production of the 737 Max and require approval for each plane off the assembly line. Whitaker also mentioned a “significant increase” in safety inspectors at Boeing and key supplier Spirit AeroSystems’ plants.
Boeing’s recent challenges may expose the company to criminal prosecution related to the deadly crashes of two Max jetliners in 2018 and 2019. The Justice Department recently indicated that Boeing violated a 2021 settlement agreement, which allowed the company to avoid prosecution for fraud charges stemming from allegations of deceiving regulators about a flight-control system implicated in the crashes.