A panel of outside experts says there is a “disconnect” between executives and employees regarding Boeing’s safety culture, and whether employees responsible for inspecting Boeing’s planes can raise concerns without fear of retaliation. He says he has doubts.
Aviation industry and government experts also said Boeing’s safety training and procedures are constantly changing, leading to employee confusion.
The comments were included in a report submitted to the Federal Aviation Administration on Monday. Congress ordered the investigation in 2020 when it passed a bill reforming the way the FAA certifies new aircraft in the wake of two fatal crashes involving Boeing 737 Max jetliners.
Boeing’s safety is being reexamined following last month’s explosion of an emergency door panel on an Alaska Airlines Max plane. Accident investigators said in a preliminary report that bolts used to hold panels in place were missing after the plane underwent repairs at Boeing’s factory in Renton, Washington. .
Since 2005, the FAA has relied on employees of Boeing and other aircraft manufacturers to perform some quality reviews on behalf of the regulator. After Max plane crashes in 2018 and 2019 that killed 346 people, critics in Congress accused Boeing executives of putting undue pressure on employees to approve work done for the FAA. He claimed that he had put it on.
“We have taken important steps to foster a culture of safety that empowers all employees to share their views,” Boeing said in a statement. But there is still much work to be done. ”
The panel of experts said Boeing has made changes that reduce the potential for retaliation against employees who report safety issues. However, it added: “Although the restructuring has improved, it still presents an opportunity for retaliation.”
Boeing has a huge backlog of orders from airlines eager to introduce new, more fuel-efficient planes. The company has increased its production rate of 737 aircraft to 38 aircraft per month.
Critics, including Ed Pearson, a former senior manager of the 737 program and current director of the nonprofit Safety Foundation, are pressuring Boeing employees not to slow down the assembly line by pointing out potential problems. I have been dissatisfied with this for many years.
“There’s a culture where frontline workers learn to keep their mouths shut out of fear that something might happen to them,” Pearson said in a recent interview. “The pressure is, ‘Move the plane below the line, move the plane below the line.’ It’s not, ‘Screw it, let’s fix it, let’s make it right.’ ”
CEO David Calhoun urged employees to speak up in a message last month.
“Employees on the factory floor know better than anyone what we have to do to improve. We…need to always encourage team members to raise issues that need to be addressed. ,” Calhoun said. After the Alaska Airlines explosion, he vowed that Boeing would take its time and do the right thing.
Although the committee’s experts said they were not directed by Congress to investigate specific incidents or accidents, they noted that during their work, “serious quality problems with Boeing products became public.” These incidents amplified concerns that safety-related practices were “not being implemented across Boeing.”
The panel made 50 recommendations, including that Boeing develop a plan within six months to address the experts’ concerns and submit that plan to the FAA. The committee made three recommendations to the FAA.
“We continue to hold Boeing to the highest standards of safety and work to ensure that the company comprehensively responds to these recommendations,” the FAA said.