Spirit AeroSystems — Boeing’s supplier that built the Alaska Airlines 737 Max 9 that had a panel blow out mid-flight earlier this month — is stepping up its inspections, according to a note Spirit CEO Pat Shanahan sent to employees Tuesday.
“There have been learnings from the airplane inspections to date and there will be more,” Shanahan wrote. “One important takeaway is that we can take steps now to improve our first-pass quality.”
“We must work in lock step with Boeing to enhance quality assurance and controls across our production system,” he continued.
Spirit’s message comes a day after Boeing said it will also introduce new measures to strengthen its quality control system and ensure its planes are safe to operate before they take to the skies. Those new measures include an independent outside assessment of Boeing’s airplane assembly practices and opening its factory doors to inspectors from the airlines whose jets they are building.
Boeing, Spirit and the airlines that operate the 737 Max 9 came under fire when a piece of fuselage blew off at 16,000 feet in the air on a flight out of Portland. The panel that blew off during the Jan. 5 incident was a door plug filling a hole where an emergency exit could be installed.
The plane returned safely to Portland International Airport, where some passengers were treated for non-life threatening injuries.
The Federal Aviation Administration grounded all Max 9 planes that fill the hole with a door plug. The planes remain grounded while Alaska and United Airlines — the only U.S.-based airlines to operate the Max 9 — inspect each aircraft. The National Transportation Safety Board is leading the inspection into the fuselage blowout.
In the days since the incident, passengers have sued Boeing and Alaska, the FAA has opened an investigation and an audit into Boeing’s processes for ensuring its planes are safe to fly.