Boeing has a long road to go before it can make safe planes, says US aviation chief

The Federal Aviation Administration is preparing to receive the plan of action from US planemaker Boeing to address issues related to safety.

Mike Whitaker, FAA administrator , gave Boeing 90-days to create a comprehensive plan for addressing “systemic issues with quality control” and prohibited it from increasing 737 MAX manufacturing.

Boeing is facing increasing questions after a panel of a door detached on a flight with Alaska Airlines on 5 January, forcing the pilots to land in an emergency while passengers were exposed by a large hole at 16,000 feet. A FAA audit found other serious issues.

Whitaker said to ABC News that the 90-day plan due next week “is not the final step in the process”. It’s just the beginning, and it will be a long journey to get Boeing to where they should be making safe aircraft.

He said that the FAA worked closely with Boeing in the last 90-days on “what this plan will look like to get the quality back to where it should be at their factories”.

It’s about bringing the safety system to where it should be, and bringing the culture to where it should be, so that employees will speak up when something is troubling.

Boeing believes that the required documents for the production of the doors were never created. The National Transportation Safety Board also said that the plane was missing the four key bolts.

Whitaker met with Dave Calhoun, the chief executive of Boeing’s parent company, for a full-day in February. The FAA is planning a second round of meetings next week. Boeing is also facing an ongoing investigation by the Justice Department into the door-plug blowout.

Calhoun has announced plans to step down from his position as CEO at the end of this year. He said that the planemaker will “develop the comprehensive action plan that will demonstrate the profound changes that Administrator Whitaker, and the FAA, demand”.

Pete Buttigieg told Yahoo Finance that Boeing was “saying the correct things and taking encouraging steps” but that they needed to show it on the floor.

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