Boeing to face FAA scrutiny for foreseeable future after mid-air blowout

By Allyson Versprille
 

The Federal Aviation Administration will maintain its stepped-up oversight of Boeing Co. that the agency began after a fuselage panel blew off a 737 Max in January, the agency’s top official plans to tell US lawmakers. 
 

The agency will continue to place more of its inspectors at Boeing’s facilities and those of key supplier Spirit AeroSystems Holdings Inc. “for the foreseeable future,” FAA Administrator Michael Whitaker said in written testimony prepared for a Senate hearing on Thursday that was seen by Bloomberg.

The FAA will also keep closer tabs on other aerospace manufacturers with more “active, in-person oversight” to supplement the agency’s audits, Whitaker said.

In response to the Jan. 5 accident, “the FAA changed its oversight approach and those changes are permanent,” Whitaker plans to tell lawmakers. Reuters reported Whitaker’s prepared remarks earlier on Wednesday.

Additional in-person inspections are one of several actions the agency has taken after a fuselage panel blew off a 737 Max shortly after takeoff in early January. The incident led to a series of revelations of quality and manufacturing lapses in Boeing’s factories, fueling the planemaker’s biggest crisis in years. 

Whitaker’s testimony before the Senate Commerce Committee comes about about two weeks after Boeing submitted an action plan detailing how it plans to rectify its quality issues.

The agency will track several measures of quality in Boeing’s factories in real-time, with specific “limits that will trigger corrective action if needed,” Whitaker said in the written remarks. 

The FAA has given no clear time frame for when it might lift a cap it imposed on 737 Max production rates. Boeing has significantly slowed output of its cash-cow narrowbody plane, straining its finances and frustrating customers with delayed deliveries of new jets.

Boeing Chief Executive Officer Dave Calhoun is set to testify separately about the company’s culture and practices before a different Senate panel next week. The company has said in a statement that it looks forward to appearing before the committee and that it’s “committed to fostering a culture of accountability and transparency.”