In a harshly worded statement released Wednesday, the Federal Aviation Administration said it has given Boeing 90 days to come up with a comprehensive action plan to address its “systemic quality-control issues.”
New FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker laid out the ultimatum to Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun and his senior safety team at an all-day meeting Tuesday at FAA headquarters in Washington, D.C.
“Boeing must commit to real and profound improvements,” Whitaker said after the meeting. “Making foundational change will require a sustained effort from Boeing’s leadership, and we are going to hold them accountable every step of the way, with mutually understood milestones and expectations.”
The FAA said the plan to fix the quality problems must take account of both the forthcoming results of an ongoing FAA production-line audit and the findings released Tuesday in an expert review panel report commissioned by the FAA.
The plan must also include steps Boeing will take to mature its Safety Management System, a formal safety program Boeing committed to implement in 2019.
And the FAA said Boeing must integrate this program with its Quality Management System, to “ensure the same level of rigor and oversight is applied to the company’s suppliers.”
The goal, the FAA said, is to create “a measurable, systemic shift in manufacturing quality control.”
“Boeing must take a fresh look at every aspect of their quality-control process and ensure that safety is the company’s guiding principle,” Whitaker said.
In a statement Wednesday reacting to the FAA announcement, Boeing CEO Calhoun said “we have a clear picture of what needs to be done” and that the company’s leadership team “is totally committed to meeting this challenge.”
“Boeing will develop the comprehensive action plan with measurable criteria that demonstrates the profound change that Administrator Whitaker and the FAA demand,” Calhoun said.
Alaska Airlines incident demanded action
The strong language in the FAA release suggests Whitaker has little to no patience left after a litany of quality problems at Boeing.
The last straw was the in-flight blowout of a fuselage panel on an Alaska Airlines 737 MAX last month that left a door-sized hole in the passenger cabin at 16,000 feet over Portland.
Though the pilot landed quickly and injuries were minor, the incident terrified passengers and could have ended much more tragically if the blowout had come at a higher altitude.
A preliminary report on that incident by the National Transportation Safety Board revealed that four retainer bolts required to prevent the fuselage panel from coming off were not put back after the panel was opened and re-closed at Boeing’s Renton 737 MAX final assembly plant — work that was done by Boeing employees.
The report of the expert panel identified substantive upgrades needed to improve Boeing’s quality and safety systems and directed the company to develop an action plan within six months. Just a day later, the FAA has cut that to three months.
The FAA statement Wednesday provides no clear “or else” as to what the federal agency will do if Boeing doesn’t satisfy the demand.
However, the FAA has already stopped Boeing’s planned ramp-up of 737 MAX production, capping the rate for now at 38 jets per month.
And it is exploring the use of an external third party to do some of the oversight conducted internally by Boeing engineers.
In addition, the FAA is investigating the fuselage blowout on the Alaska flight and gathering evidence on the incident.
