WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The head of the Federal Aviation Administration told a U.S. House of Representatives subcommittee on Tuesday that improvements to Boeing's (NYSE:) safety culture could take three to five years to complete.
“It's not a six-month program, it's a three- to five-year program,” said FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker, adding that he had spoken with Boeing Chief Executive Kelly Ortberg and the company's board of directors about the need for safety culture reforms. He said Boeing has made significant improvements in the short term. “As far as culture goes, it's a long-term project. … There is progress, but it's not where it needs to be.”
Congress is holding two days of hearings on Boeing and the company's efforts to improve safety.
In June, Whitaker said the agency had “intervened too much” in Boeing’s oversight ahead of January’s mid-air emergency on a new Alaska Airlines 737 MAX 9 and criticized its previous audits. Boeing faces investigations by the Justice Department and the FAA into the Alaska incident.
Whitaker, who has said the agency has consistently pushed for the use of in-person inspectors at Boeing, in January barred the planemaker from increasing production of its best-selling jet, the 737 MAX, until it makes quality and safety improvements. That limit, Whitaker said Tuesday, “really gives us the leverage we need to make sure these changes happen.”
In July, Boeing agreed to plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit criminal fraud and pay at least $243.6 million after breaching a 2021 Justice Department settlement.
The planemaker also agreed to spend at least $455 million to boost safety and compliance programs, overseen by an independent monitor for three years.
U.S. lawmakers expressed frustration with Boeing after hundreds of people died in fatal crashes of 737 MAX planes in 2018 and 2019. “We don't want Airbus to get all the airplane sales, but Boeing keeps making mistakes,” said Rep. Steve Cohen. “For the good of America, Boeing needs to get its act together.”
!function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s){if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod? n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version=’2.0′;n.queue=();t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0;t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)(0);s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window, document,’script’,’https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/fbevents.js’);
