Boeing has faced intense scrutiny and pressure since a panel exploded on a 737 Max 9 shortly after takeoff on an Alaska Airlines flight on Jan. 5. The episode raised new questions about the quality of the planes the company produces several years after two Max 8 planes crashed, killing nearly 350 people.
Interviews with more than two dozen current and former employees reveal lingering concerns about quality, particularly as pressure mounted to keep production at the company’s factories.
Now, Boeing faces a huge challenge as it seeks to make changes that improve the quality of its products and regain credibility with lawmakers, regulators, airlines and the public.
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Quality issues go back years.
Current and former Boeing employees said that for years it felt that quality came second to keeping planes moving through its factories.
In interviews, former and current Boeing employees described troubling practices, including attempts to circumvent quality procedures. One was “inspector shopping,” in which workers sought out inspectors willing to sign off on their work with little pushback.
Boeing said it did not allow inspector purchases and had increased the number of quality inspectors for commercial airplanes by 20 percent starting in 2019. Inspections per plane also increased by a similar amount during that time, the company said.
Even before the two fatal Max crashes in 2018 and 2019, Boeing was trying to keep up with its main rival, Airbus, which had introduced a new fuel-efficient plane a few years before the Max began flying. After the crashes, Airbus gained even more ground, putting pressure on Boeing to catch up once the Max is approved to fly again in late 2020.
The company has lost thousands of experienced workers.
Boeing’s workforce has experienced high turnover due to the coronavirus pandemic. The company lost thousands of experienced employees to layoffs, acquisitions, retirements and resignations.
Although Boeing has since replenished its ranks, current and former employees say a lot of institutional knowledge has been lost and its workers have less experience than in the past. Boeing’s suppliers, facing similar problems, also had trouble producing parts at the rate Boeing wanted them.
The company is facing intense scrutiny.
Since January 5, the company has been facing a wave of negative publicity. Its regulator, the Federal Aviation Administration, has increased inspections at the company’s factories. And its customers have criticized Boeing.
A six-week FAA audit of Boeing’s 737 Max production found dozens of errors in quality control practices. The agency gave the company until the end of May to address quality control issues. The Department of Justice has also launched a criminal investigation into the company.
Boeing says it’s making a lot of changes.
Boeing has announced several steps to improve quality, including adding inspections at its factory in Renton, Washington, where Max planes are assembled.
It also said it will no longer accept Max bodies from Spirit AeroSystems, a key supplier based in Wichita, Kan., that still need work. It used to tolerate defects that could be fixed later to meet a tight production schedule.
The company also said that as of Jan. 5, workers had requested more training and that it was working to meet those needs, including adding training at the plant this month.
And on Monday, Boeing announced sweeping changes in its leadership: Its chief executive, Dave Calhoun, who took over in January 2020 on a pledge to improve the company’s safety culture, will step down at the end of the year. The head of Boeing’s commercial airplane unit, Stan Deal, is leaving effective immediately. and board chairman Larry Kellner has resigned from that position and will not seek re-election to the board.
