Boeing faces continued limits on the number of planes it manufactures as well as increased safety inspections after the US aviation regulator called on it to transform its safety culture.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) held a three-hour meeting on Thursday with senior Boeing executives, who outlined the US aircraft maker’s plan to resolve problems with safety and quality control.
Boeing has been under increasing pressure since a panel plugging a cabin door on a new Alaska Airlines 737 Max 9 blew out during a flight on 5 January, forcing pilots to make an emergency landing and leaving a hole in the side of the plane. That prompted the FAA to temporarily ground all flights with that model.
The regulator stepped up its oversight of Boeing after the incident and in late February gave Boeing 90 days to develop a comprehensive plan to address “systemic quality-control issues” and barred it from expanding 737 Max production after the January incident. Boeing presented its plan to the FAA on Thursday.
As a result, the FAA said its senior leaders will now meet the manufacturer weekly to review its performance metrics, and Boeing must take measures such as strengthening its safety management system, including employee safety reporting. It must also increase internal audits of its production system.
The FAA said it wants more safety inspectors to be sent into Boeing and Spirit AeroSystems facilities, as well as having additional inspections at critical points of the production process. Boeing is also required to have a safety management system that ensures a structured approach to identify hazards and manage risk.
Mike Whitaker, the FAA administrator, said after the meeting that the regulator would continue its enhanced oversight of Boeing and its suppliers and hold the company “accountable every step of the way”.
He said: “Systemic change isn’t easy but in this case is absolutely necessary, and the work is never really done when it comes to the safety of the flying public.”
Dave Calhoun, the president and chief executive of Boeing, said in a statement that the company had presented to the FAA its plan to strengthen its safety management.
He said: “Many of these actions are under way and our team is committed to executing on each element of the plan. 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.”
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Stephanie Pope, the president and chief executive of Boeing’s Commercial Airplanes division, said: “Our plan is built on the feedback of our employees, who know best how to design, build and deliver safe, high-quality airplanes. We also incorporated the requirements and feedback from our regulator and welcomed the recommendations from our customers and industry experts.”
Boeing currently faces a US justice department investigation into whether the incident in January violated a previous settlement agreed with Washington after two 737 Max crashes, in Indonesia in 2018 and Ethiopia in 2019, that killed 346 people.