The United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Administrator, Mike Whitaker, said that Boeing needs a “fundamental cultural shift” to prioritize safety and quality over profits.
And most significantly, we required Boeing to develop a comprehensive plan to fix its systemic production quality problems.”
What’s needed is a fundamental cultural shift at Boeing that’s oriented around safety and quality above profits.”
However, the FAA’s safety oversight is part of the problem, according to the US Department of Transportation (DOT).
Alongside the US civil aviation regulator, the airline’s team has been involved in assessing Boeing’s production quality and control systems.
Mike Whitaker, the administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in the United States, stated that Boeing requires a “fundamental cultural shift” to put safety and quality ahead of profits. The incident in which a door plug detached from an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 9 aircraft occurred one year ago, and the FAA chief commemorates the occasion with an online blog post.
greater attention to safety at Boeing.
In the last year, the American aircraft manufacturer has been in the news because of manufacturing-related safety and quality issues, especially the one that led to the mid-cabin door of a Boeing 737 MAX 9 blowing out in early January 2024. Executives at Boeing were accused throughout the year of allegedly pressuring employees to remain silent about quality issues.
Picture courtesy of Shutterstock | Wirestock Creators.
Therefore, the FAA, NTSB, and US DOT have taken some action to address the oversight of Boeing’s manufacturing, specifically the production of the Boeing 737 and 787 Dreamliner. Whitaker wrote the following in his blog post.
“More inspectors were placed on the factory floors. We set a production cap on the 737 MAX. We carried out a thorough production line audit. Above all, we demanded that Boeing create a thorough plan to address its structural issues with production quality. “..”.
The US regulator monitored progress with Boeing executives through a record number of surprise audits and monthly status meetings, Whitaker continued.
“We will continue to use our improved oversight. However, this project won’t be finished in a year. At Boeing, a fundamental cultural change that prioritizes quality and safety over profits is required. “,”.
But the US Department of Transportation (DOT) says that part of the issue is the FAA’s safety oversight. The US DOT Office of Inspector General stated that the FAA’s capacity to address problems with Boeing 737 and 787 production is constrained by flaws in the oversight procedure. A review specifically focusing on the production of the 737 and 787 was carried out by the DOT Inspector General at the request of the US Congress. Lawmakers wanted answers regarding persistent manufacturing-related quality and safety issues that had persisted for several years.
The FAA has not sufficiently evaluated a production system as extensive and complex as Boeing’s, according to the report’s overall findings. The Inspector General discovered that “the FAA does not use data-driven assessments to target audits in its approach to overseeing Boeing manufacturing and production.”. “.”.
Additionally, airlines are involved in the process.
In order to address quality issues with delivered aircraft, Alaska Airlines has taken a number of actions since the door plug incident.
Picture: Simple Flying | Vincenzo Pace.
The Alaska Airlines audit team has visited Boeing’s Renton plant and Spirit AeroSystems, which makes the fuselage, in Wichita on multiple occasions over the last year. The airline’s team has been involved in evaluating Boeing’s production quality and control systems in conjunction with the US civil aviation regulator.
Three aircraft acquisition representatives (AARs) are currently deployed by Alaska; they work various shifts at Boeing and are always available to perform inspections in accordance with the carrier’s policies. Alaska also maintains three engineers at the Boeing delivery center to supervise customer flight duties and conduct customer walks, “helping to ensure that our aircraft undergo thorough inspections prior to delivery.”. “..”.
