FAA boss: Boeing still must make ‘significant changes’ to improve quality and safety

Boeing still has to make “significant changes” to improve the quality and safety of its airplanes, according to the head of the Federal Aviation Administration.

Boeing still has to make “significant changes” to improve the quality and safety of its airplanes, according to the head of the Federal Aviation Administration. In a congressional hearing on the FAA’s oversight of Boeing set for Tuesday morning, agency Administrator Michael Whitaker told members of Congress that the safety regulator and Boeing have both made progress since the January 5 incident in which a door plug blew off of a 737 Max flown by Alaska Airlines, in his prepared remarks. But he also said there is more work to be done – and that increased oversight will continue for the foreseeable future. “There must be a shift in the company’s safety culture to holistically address its systemic quality assurance and production issues,” he said. “Our goal is to make sure Boeing implements the necessary changes and has the right tools in place to sustain those changes in the long term.” Boeing declined to comment on Whitaker’s prepared remarks. A preliminary investigation has discovered the Alaska Airlines plane left a Boeing factory without the four bolts needed to hold the door plug in place. The incident sparked numerous federal investigations into Boeing, and numerous congressional hearings that raised questions about its quality and safety of its planes. Another hearing with Whitaker is set to take place Wednesday before a Senate committee on the same topic. Whitaker said that Boeing must make “significant changes” to address “systemic production quality issues.” And his remarks also promise that the FAA will be more active in oversight of both Boeing and its primary supplier, Spirit AeroSystems, which Boeing is in the process of purchasing.