Boeing shows feds its plan to fix aircraft safety 4 months after midair blowout

Boeing told federal regulators on Thursday how it plans to resolve safety and quality issues that have plagued its aircraft manufacturing work in recent years.

The Federal Aviation Administration required the company to produce a recovery plan after one of its jets suffered a fuselage panel explosion during an Alaska Airlines flight in January.

“Today, we review Boeing’s roadmap to establish a new safety standard and emphasize that they must follow through with corrective actions and effectively transform their safety culture,” said FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker after meeting with the company’s senior leaders. . “”For the FAA’s part, we will ensure that it does and that its corrections are effective. This does not mark the end of our increased oversight of Boeing and its suppliers, but it sets a new standard for how Boeing does business,” he added.

No one was injured during the mid-air incident on the relatively new Boeing 737 Max 9. Accident investigators determined that screws that helped secure the panel to the plane’s structure were missing before the part exploded. The accident further damaged Boeing’s reputation and led to several civil and criminal investigations.

Accusations of security shortcuts

The complainants have accused the company from taking shortcuts that put passengers in danger, a claim Boeing disputes. A panel convened by the FAA found deficiencies in the aircraft manufacturer’s safety culture.

In late February, Whitaker gave Boeing 90 days to come up with a plan to improve quality and alleviate the agency’s safety concerns.

The FAA limited Boeing’s production of the 737 Max, its best-selling plane, following the trouble involving the Alaska Airlines jet. Whitaker said the limit will remain in effect until his agency is satisfied that Boeing is making progress.

Over the past three months, the FAA has conducted 30- and 60-day check-ins with Boeing employees, according to a statement from the agency. The purpose of the check-ins was to ensure that Boeing had a clear understanding of regulators’ expectations and was complying with the medium- and long-term actions established by the FAA. These actions include:

• Strengthening your Safety Management System, including employee safety reporting
• Simplify processes and procedures and clarify work instructions
• Enhanced Supplier Oversight
• Better employee training and communication
• Increased internal audits of the production system

Possible criminal charges

Boeing’s recent troubles could expose it to criminal prosecution related to the deadly crash of two Max planes in 2018 and 2019. The Justice Department said two weeks ago that Boeing violated the terms of a 2021 settlement that allowed it to avoid prosecution for fraud. The charge was based on the company allegedly misleading regulators about a flight control system that was implicated in the crashes.

Most of the recent problems have been related to the Max, but Boeing and key supplier Spirit AeroSystems have also faced manufacturing flaws in a larger plane, the 787 Dreamliner. Boeing has suffered setbacks in other programs, including its Starliner space capsule, a military refueling tanker and new Air Force One presidential jets.

Boeing officials have vowed to regain the trust of regulators and the flying public. Boeing has fallen behind rival Airbus and production setbacks have hurt the company’s ability to generate cash.

The company says it is reducing “leg work” – assembly tasks that are performed outside of their proper chronological order – and maintaining closer control of Spirit AeroSystems.