Trump administration requests update on Boeing’s safety and quality improvements

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy on Thursday announced that he had asked the CE of Boeing, the nation’s largest plane maker, to come to Washington and update him on the company’s commitment to addressing its quality and safety issues. Duffy wrote on the social media platform X that following that meeting with Kelly Ortberg, the aerospace company’s CE, he planned to visit Boeing “to evaluate firsthand the measures being implemented to ensure its planes meet the highest safety standards.” When asked about Duffy’s post, Boeing deferred comment to the Transportation Department. During his confirmation hearing last month, Duffy said he would continue his department’s oversight of Boeing. The company came under an intense international spotlight during President Trump’s previous administration after a pair of Boeing Max plane crashes — a Lion Air flight in 2018 and an Ethiopian Airlines flight in 2019 — killed a total of 346 people. The company was further thrust into crisis after a panel in the body of a 737 Max plane was blown out during an Alaska Airlines flight in January 2024. No one died in the incident, but the FAA increased scrutiny of the company’s manufacturing processes. The panel blowout put the aircraft manufacturer at the center of several federal investigations and prompted the Justice Department to re-examine a 2021 settlement it had reached with Boeing in relation to the Max crashes. Last year, Boeing gave the F.A.A. a plan to address systemic issues that had damaged the company’s reputation.<br/>