The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) will likely keep Boeing’s current production cap in place for its 737 MAX model for a few more months as the company addresses safety concerns, FAA Administrator Michael Whitaker said on May 30.
Mr. Whitaker made the announcement at a press conference after meeting with Boeing officials, including outgoing CEO Dave Calhoun. After the Jan. 5 incident in which an Alaskan Airlines door panel blew out right after takeoff on a new 737 MAX 9, the FAA ordered Boeing to implement a comprehensive safety plan and instituted a cap on production of the 737 MAX of 38 planes per month.
The FAA administrator said he does not expect Boeing to fulfill those obligations in the next few months to allow increases in production for the MAX plane.
“I made it clear to Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun and other senior leaders that this plan does not mark the end of our increased oversight of Boeing and its suppliers, but the beginning of the next chapter,” Mr. Whitaker said.
“We will not approve production increases beyond the current cap until we’re satisfied.”
FAA’s plans involve “systemic change,” and Boeing still has “a lot of work” to do to satisfy those plans, Mr. Whitaker said.
“Our goal is to make sure that Boeing makes the necessary changes and has the right tools in place to sustain those changes. Boeing has laid out their roadmap, and now they need to execute,” he said.
The May 30 meeting was the second this year between Mr. Calhoun and Mr. Whitaker as the aerospace company tries to fulfill the FAA’s expectations to lift a production cap on its 737 MAX. Various safety and quality concerns compelled the FAA to institute a cap after it grounded all 737 MAX planes for nearly two years following the fatal 2018 and 2019 crashes, which resulted in 346 deaths.
With the production cap in place, Boeing is quickly falling behind its order schedule and deliveries as it seeks to remain competitive with Airbus, the only other major U.S. plane manufacturer.
Boeing is still producing fewer than the 38 737 MAXs that the FAA allows it to manufacture each month. The company has not yet requested that the cap be lifted, nor has it held discussions about lifting the cap, Mr. Whitaker said.
Mr. Calhoun is due to leave Boeing by the end of the year after the Alaskan Airlines incident triggered a management shake-up, but the company has not yet named his replacement. Recently, company shareholders voted to retain Mr. Calhoun as a board member for the foreseeable future.
Others at the May 30 meeting included Stephanie Pope, the new head of Boeing Commercial Airlines; Elizabeth Lund, Boeing’s head of quality; and Mike Fleming, Boeing’s senior vice president and general manager of airplane programs.
Boeing previously announced in May that it had created new training material for those working in manufacturing and quality control, which averages roughly 20 to 50 more hours of training per employee. The company also provided 7,000 new tools and equipment for commercial airplane work.
At Boeing’s annual meeting on May 17, Mr. Calhoun said he expects the FAA to “take whatever time is necessary to review that plan and hold [Boeing] accountable.”
“This is more of a beginning than it is an end,” he said.
Mr. Whitaker said the previous week that Boeing faces a “long road” in addressing its various safety and quality concerns.
The FAA’s 90-day plan with Boeing “is not the end of the process. It’s the beginning, and it’s going to be a long road to get Boeing back to where they need to be making safe airplanes,” he said.
The FAA also said Boeing must work toward improving its Safety Management System program, something the company had agreed to do in 2019. It must combine that with a quality management system to “create a measurable, systemic shift in manufacturing quality control.”
Boeing also faces potential criminal prosecution from the U.S. government after the Department of Justice said on May 14 that Boeing violated a 2021 settlement agreement that allowed the company to avoid charges from the fatal 2018 and 2019 737 MAX crashes. The agency is set to meet with the crash victims’ families and their legal counsel on May 31.
The Justice Department asked Boeing to respond to the agency’s letter announcing the breach by June 13. Then, by July 7, the department will decide what to do with the case.
Boeing denied breaching the deferred prosecution agreement.
The Epoch Times reached out to Boeing for comment but received none by press time.
