FAA keeps cap on Boeing 737 Max production as safety concerns persist

The Federal Aviation Administration will continue to cap Boeing’s production of its 737 Max plane amid safety and quality concerns, the agency said Thursday.

The FAA plans to keep up its increased oversight of the airplane manufacturer following a January incident during which a panel blew off a 737 Max plane midflight, leaving a gaping hole in the side of the Renton-assembled aircraft.

Following the panel blowout and other recent allegations about the company’s safety culture and quality-assurance systems, the FAA directed Boeing to design a “comprehensive action plan” to address “systemic quality-control issues.” On Thursday, Boeing executives met with the FAA for three hours to share details of that plan.

FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker was light on specifics about what the plan entailed but said Boeing had provided “their road map for continuous improvement.”

“We need to see a strong and unwavering commitment to safety and quality that endures over time,” Whitaker said at a news conference Thursday. “This is about systemic change and there’s a lot of work to be done. Our goal is to make sure Boeing makes the necessary changes and has the right tools in place to sustain those changes.”

The FAA did not release details of the action plan discussed on Thursday, though Whitaker said he expects Boeing will do so.

But, Whitaker highlighted a few areas of change, including:

Requiring Boeing to have a mandatory safety management system to identify hazards,

Increasing employee training and communication,

Strengthening an anonymous reporting system for Boeing workers to raise concerns,

Boosting supplier oversight,

Ensuring work happens “in the right sequence” during production, to minimize errors as the plane moves down the factory line,

And, gathering more input from those who use Boeing products, including pilots.

Whitaker said the FAA has also made changes to its processes following the panel blowout, including adding more safety inspectors and collecting more feedback from employees. The FAA has shifted from an audit approach to an inspector approach, Whitaker said, meaning they will now be more “hands on” and prioritize “talking to folks on the floor.”

He did not share any specifics about how many inspectors were in factories run by Boeing and supplier Spirit AeroSystems, or how that compared to past practices.

“I think the flying public should feel that we’re increasing our oversight at an appropriate level with Boeing,” Whitaker said. “I think these are good steps that will get us where we need to be.”

Following Thursday’s news conference, Boeing said its plan had four main themes: invest in workforce training, simplify plans and processes, eliminate defects and elevate safety and quality culture.

“We are confident in the plan that we have put forward and are committed to continuously improving,’ Stephanie Pope, Boeing commercial airplanes CEO, said in a statement. “We will work under the FAA’s oversight and uphold our responsibility to the flying public to continue delivering safe, high-quality airplanes.”

The National Transportation Safety Board has determined that four bolts meant to hold that panel in place were missing from the aircraft. The panel was removed for repair and then reinstalled improperly by Boeing mechanics, a person familiar with the details of the work told The Seattle Times in January.

In the months since the panel blowout, Boeing has faced numerous allegations about its manufacturing quality and safety culture. Whistleblowers have questioned Boeing’s manufacturing practices, accused the company of prioritizing speed over profits and alleged retaliation for raising safety concerns.

The January incident also reopened questions about improvements Boeing had promised following two fatal Max crashes in 2018 and 2019. Federal prosecutors recently determined that Boeing violated an agreement that allowed it to avoid criminal charges for the Max crashes if it met certain conditions, including designing and enforcing a compliance and ethics program.

A report commissioned by the FAA after the Max crashes and released in February found Boeing’s push to improve its safety culture had missed the mark. In the report, an expert panel concluded that Boeing employees fear retaliation if they speak up about safety concerns, aren’t sure how they fit into the company’s broader safety management system and lack confidence that changes would be made if they did speak up.

After the panel blowout, the FAA capped any 737 Max production rate increases until it’s clear Boeing can ensure its quality control is fully compliant with regulations.

On Thursday, Whitaker said the FAA would keep that cap in place “until we’re satisfied.” He did not provide any specific metrics that the FAA was looking for or an estimated time frame but said he didn’t expect the cap to lift in the next few months.

Boeing has already slowed down production of its Max planes and Whitaker said the company has not asked to ramp up again.

Moving forward, the FAA plans to meet with Boeing every week to review performance metrics and every month to gauge progress. Whitaker will also meet quarterly with Boeing executives; he is set to meet with Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun in Seattle in September.

Shortly after the panel blowout, the FAA said it was considering an independent outside assessment of Boeing’s airplane assembly practices. On Thursday, Whitaker said the FAA had not moved away from that possibility. The FAA commissioned a study on delegating authority and third-party oversight, he said, and expects the results of that study as soon as next week.

In response to the expert panel commissioned by the FAA, Boeing said it has taken the “detailed assessment to heart” and already moved to act on the report’s findings and feedback.

To eliminate defects, Boeing said it has re-established daily compliance sweeps and implemented quality inspection and approval before 737 fuselages ship from Boeing’s supplier Spirit AeroSystems to Boeing’s factory.

Since January, more than 70,000 employees have participated in “quality stand down” days, Boeing said. On those days, Boeing temporarily pauses production to allow workers to participate in training.