Boeing sees fewer fuselage defects, helping lift productivity

Boeing said it’s seeing a sharp drop in defects on 737 Max fuselages arriving from supplier Spirit AeroSystems Holdings Inc. and an uptick in the pace at which the cashcow planes move through its factory south of Seattle. During two days of Seattle-area tours for reporters, Boeing provided a glimpse of the work underway to address lapses in safety and retrain workers, under the close supervision of US regulators. Boeing has beefed up training and skills testing for recent hires, and it’s paying more attention to how work assignments and parts are handed off between shifts of workers. “When I entered into this company, safety was drilled into my DNA, and I believe it still is,” said Elizabeth Lund, the Boeing senior vice president spearheading the quality initiative in its factories and with US regulators. “It’s important for us to be humble. For us to look for opportunities for us to step back and say here’s an area where we’re not as strong as we want to be.” Boeing’s operational and financial performance has been thrown into turmoil since the Jan. 5 blowout of a fuselage panel on an airborne 737 Max 9 aircraft. As a result of the accident, the company has slowed output of its 737 aircraft to improve its manufacturing. The company has also come under the public glare of regulators, airlines and the flying public, and has endured a rising tide of company whistleblowers laying bare alleged shortfalls on the company shop floors. The planemaker said it’s paying special attention to so-called “traveled work.” It’s the industry term for unfinished jobs that travel down the assembly line with jets, often leading to more complications since defective or missing parts are tackled out of the regular production cadence.<br/>