FAA boss: Boeing still must make ‘significant changes’ to improve quality and safety

By Chris Isidore, CNN

New York (CNN) — Boeing still has to make “significant changes” to improve the quality and safety of its airplanes, according to the head of the Federal Aviation Administration.

In a congressional hearing on the FAA’s oversight of Boeing set for Tuesday morning, agency Administrator Michael Whitaker told members of Congress that the safety regulator and Boeing have both made progress since the January 5 incident in which a door plug blew off of a 737 Max flown by Alaska Airlines, in his prepared remarks. But he also said there is more work to be done – and that increased oversight will continue for the foreseeable future.

“There must be a shift in the company’s safety culture to holistically address its systemic quality assurance and production issues,” he said. “Our goal is to make sure Boeing implements the necessary changes and has the right tools in place to sustain those changes in the long term.”

Boeing declined to comment on Whitaker’s prepared remarks.

A preliminary investigation has discovered the Alaska Airlines plane left a Boeing factory without the four bolts needed to hold the door plug in place. The incident sparked numerous federal investigations into Boeing, and numerous congressional hearings that raised questions about its quality and safety of its planes. Another hearing with Whitaker is set to take place Wednesday before a Senate committee on the same topic.

Whitaker said that Boeing must make “significant changes” to address “systemic production quality issues.” And his remarks also promise that the FAA will be more active in oversight of both Boeing and its primary supplier, Spirit AeroSystems, which Boeing is in the process of purchasing.

“Since January 5 we have added more safety inspectors in the Boeing and Spirit AeroSystems facilities, and we will maintain our increased on-site presence,” he said.

But Whitaker told Congress that a full turnaround will take years.

“I would put culture in the long-term category,” Federal Aviation Administrator Mike Whitaker told the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. “It is not a six-month program, it’s a three year to five-year program.”

Whitaker said there’s been “short term progress” at Boeing, including “significant progress” on halting roving work on Boeing’s factory floor, which was at the root of the door plug blowout. But Whitaker also said the ongoing strike and negotiations have put a Boeing safety training program that was ready to roll out “on hold.”

“I think it’s going to take years of delivering that safety message—and the employees actually seeing that safety is more important than production—before that culture to change,” Whitaker said. “So, it’s going to take a very long term, sustained commitment.”

Monday evening, Reuters reported a new problems discovered at Spirit AeroSystems, in which an internal investigation has discovered that about 4% of all records since 2010 are missing or duplicated for precisely measured parts, such as brackets, frames, and beams. Company spokesman Joe Buccino told CNN that Spirit has not identified any potential safety concerns with the affected parts, and no aircraft will need to be pulled from service as a result.

“We gave notice to affected customers and continue performing an internal investigation,” he said.

The FAA is also changing some of its internal structure, including elevating the role of the FAA’s executive committee which oversees its regulatory oversight and safety management programs, Whitaker told the committee. He said that he and and the agency’s deputy administrator will now be members of that committee.

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