Boeing gives FAA plan to address systemic quality-control issues

Boeing’s top executives delivered a plan to improve quality and safety to the Federal Aviation Administration on Thursday, vowing to address systemic issues that have damaged the company’s reputation and put the aircraft manufacturer at the center of several federal investigations. Boeing detailed these and other steps during a three-hour meeting with the FAA’s administrator, Mike Whitaker, where the company submitted a “comprehensive action plan” that the regulator ordered in February. Whitaker had given Boeing 90 days to develop a plan to make sweeping safety improvements after a midcabin panel known as a door plug blew out of a 737 Max 9 jet flying at about 16,000 feet on Jan. 5. No one was seriously injured during the flight. The FAA said Thursday that “senior” leaders from the agency would “meet with Boeing weekly to review their performance metrics, progress and any challenges they’re facing in implementing the changes.” Boeing was also required to address findings, from an expert panel convened by the FAA last year, that revealed persistent issues with the company’s safety culture. Whitaker said Boeing had accepted all of the recommendations the panel made in the report. “We need to see a strong and unwavering commitment to safety and quality that endures over time,” Whitaker said Thursday. “This is about systemic change, and there’s a lot of work to be done.” In a statement, Boeing said the action plan it delivered to the FAA was based on feedback it received from employees and through conversations with the regulator. Boeing provided some additional detail on the actions it was taking to improve quality but did not make the safety plan public. In an email to employees, Stephanie Pope, the head of Boeing’s commercial plane unit and the company’s COO, said the company is investing in training, simplifying plans and processes, eliminating defects and improving quality and safety. Story has more.<br/>