Boeing must improve quality before boosting 737 production, FAA says

The head of the US FAA said Boeing must improve safety culture and address quality issues before the agency will allow the planemaker to boost 737 MAX production. The FAA in late January took the unprecedented step of telling Boeing it would not allow the company to expand 737 MAX production in the wake of a mid-air emergency on an Alaska Airlines jet earlier in the month. FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker told Reuters in an interview on Tuesday that the agency has not begun discussions yet with Boeing about hiking 737 production, and said the agency will only permit an increase when Boeing is "running a quality system safely." Whitaker said he has the tools to hold Boeing "accountable and fully intend to use them." Boeing did not immediately comment. Whitaker said Boeing is allowed to produce 38 of the 737 planes per month, but actual current production "is lower than that"; he did not elaborate. Boeing's CFO, Brian West, said last month that the planemaker's first-half output of 737 planes would be less than 38 per month, but in the second half said he expected it would "move toward that 38 per month, but it will be dictated" by the FAA. The FAA's Whitaker said the timeline on when Boeing will be allowed to boost the 737 MAX production rate will depend on "how effectively they can implement these changes in the safety culture and bring their quality levels up to where they need to be."<br/>