Boeing is due to tell federal regulators Thursday how it plans to fix the safety and quality problems that have plagued its aircraft-manufacturing work in recent years.
The Federal Aviation Administration required the company to produce a turnaround plan after one of its jetliners suffered a blowout of a fuselage panel during an Alaska Airlines flight in January.
Nobody was hurt during the midair incident. Accident investigators determined that bolts that helped secure the panel to the frame of the Boeing 737 Max 9 were missing before the piece blew off. The mishap has further battered Boeing’s reputation and led to multiple civil and criminal investigations.
Whistleblowers have accused the company of taking shortcuts that endanger passengers, a claim that Boeing disputes. A panel convened by the FAA found shortcomings in the aircraft maker’s safety culture.
In late February, FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker gave Boeing 90 days to come up with a plan to improve quality and ease the agency’s safety concerns. Whitaker described the plan as the beginning, not the end, of a process to improve Boeing.
“It’s going to be a long road to get Boeing back to where they need to be, making safe airplanes,” he told ABC News last week.
The FAA limited Boeing production of the 737 Max, its best-selling plane, although analysts believe the number the company is making has fallen even lower than the FAA cap.
Boeing’s recent problems could expose it to criminal prosecution related to the deadly crashes of two Max jetliners in 2018 and 2019. The Justice Department said two weeks ago that Boeing violated terms of a 2021 settlement that allowed it to avoid prosecution for fraud. The charge was based on the company allegedly deceiving regulators about a flight-control system that was implicated in the crashes.
Most of the recent problems have been related to the Max, however Boeing and key supplier Spirit AeroSystems have also struggled with manufacturing flaws on a larger plane, the 787 Dreamliner. Boeing has suffered setbacks on 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 “traveled work” — assembly tasks that are done out of their proper chronological order — and keeping closer tabs on Spirit AeroSystems.
Boeing, one of the world’s leading aircraft manufacturers, has recently met a deadline to address safety and quality issues with its aircraft. The company has been under scrutiny in recent years following a series of high-profile incidents involving its planes, including the grounding of its 737 MAX fleet after two fatal crashes.
In response to these concerns, Boeing has been working diligently to improve the safety and quality of its aircraft. The company set a deadline for itself to address these issues, and has now announced that it has successfully met that deadline.
One of the key areas that Boeing has focused on is improving the software systems in its aircraft. The company has implemented new safety features and updated existing systems to ensure that its planes are as safe as possible. In addition, Boeing has also made changes to its manufacturing processes to improve the overall quality of its aircraft.
Boeing’s efforts to address safety and quality issues have been praised by industry experts and regulators. The company has shown a commitment to putting safety first and ensuring that its planes meet the highest standards of quality.
Despite these positive steps, Boeing still faces challenges in rebuilding trust with customers and regulators. The company will need to continue to demonstrate its commitment to safety and quality in order to regain confidence in its products.
Overall, Boeing’s successful meeting of the deadline to address safety and quality issues is a positive step forward for the company. By taking proactive measures to improve its aircraft, Boeing is showing that it is serious about ensuring the safety of passengers and crew members who fly on its planes.
