The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has said that it will “continue to hold Boeing accountable” after reviewing the manufacturer’s new safety roadmap to fix its quality and safety issues following the Alaska Airlines plug-door blowout on 5 January 2024.
In a three-hour meeting, Boeing officials laid out a new 11-page safety and quality plan to the FAA, the culmination of a 90-day order from the FAA that Boeing produces a plan to address and fix serious issues within its production lines, issued in February.
The plan was developed with recommendations from an FAA industry panel, customers, and industry experts, under the oversight of the FAA.
Commenting on the new safety and quality plan, Administrator Mike Whitaker said: “We reviewed Boeing’s roadmap to set a new standard of safety and underscored that they must follow through on corrective actions and effectively transform their safety culture.
“On the FAA’s part, we will make sure they do and that their fixes are effective. This does not mark the end of our increased oversight of Boeing and its suppliers, but it sets a new standard of how Boeing does business,” he added.
Photo: Boeing
The FAA disclosed that it would continue oversight of Boeing and its suppliers, including a demand for more safety inspectors in Boeing and Spirit AeroSystems’ facilities, conversations with company employees, additional inspections at critical production points, and monitoring quality system metrics.
It said the FAA will also continue to conduct monthly reviews to gauge the manufacturer’s progress, and senior FAA leaders will meet with Boeing weekly to review its performance, metrics and challenges it has implementing the proposed changes.
The Boeing Safety Map
In a message to all Commercial Airplanes employees, published on 30 May, Boeing President and CEO Dave Calhoun and Commercial Airplanes President and CEO Stephanie Pope addressed the FAA review and summarised the plan into four categories:
- Invest in workforce training
- Simplify plans and processes
- Eliminate defects
- Elevate safety and quality culture
In the published 11-page document, it was revealed that six “critical, safety-focused production health KPIs” had been identified, established and operationalised across Boeing’s Commercial Airplanes programmes. Furthermore, it stated that submissions to its ‘Speak Up’ system – a platform where employees can confidentially and anonymously report safety and quality issues – had increased by 500%.
Improvements in its supply chain were also outlined with reference to its supplier Spirit Aerosystems, with Boeing now establishing an escalation process to address quality issues.
Stephanie Pope, President and CEO of Commercial Airplanes, said: “Our plan is built on the feedback of our employees who know best how to design, build and deliver safe, high-quality aeroplanes. […] We are confident in the plan that we have put forward and are committed to continuously improving. We will work under the FAA’s oversight and uphold our responsibility to the flying public to continue delivering safe, high-quality airplanes.”
“Many of these actions are underway, 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,” Pope added.
“We thank Administrator Whitaker and the FAA team for their feedback today, and we will continue to work under their oversight as we move forward,” added Calhoun.
