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Boeing's CEO said regulators are rushing to get grounded planes back into the air after one of the company's 737 MAX jets lost part of its fuselage during flight last week. The company said it acknowledged „our mistake“ after saying it had no intention of doing so.
Dave Calhoun was speaking at a company-wide safety meeting at the Boeing factory in Renton, Washington, where the 737 Max is manufactured. The meeting was broadcast to employees around the world but was closed to the media.
„First of all, we admit we made a mistake and we're going to work on this,“ Calhoun said, according to excerpts shared by the company. „We will work with the (National Transportation Safety Board) who are investigating the accident itself to determine the cause. . . . I trust them every step of the way.“
boeing A 737 Max 9 operated by Alaska Airlines is under intense pressure after losing part of its fuselage at an altitude of about 16,000 feet over Oregon last Friday. Footage taken by a passenger showed large holes in the sides of the rows of seats.
None of the 171 passengers or six crew members were seriously injured, but Calhoun said all he could think about when he saw the footage was „Who was sitting in the seat next to that hole?“
„I have children, I have grandchildren, and so do you,“ he said. „This is important. Every detail matters.“ Boeing stock has fallen more than 9% since the incident.
The Federal Aviation Administration grounded 171 Boeing 737 Max 9 aircraft on Saturday. Door panel blown off during Alaska Airlines flight later found in the garden A physics teacher in Oregon.
United Airlines and Alaska Airlines on Monday A bolt was found in the closed door. Part of Max 9 that requires tightening.
Boeing has issued instructions to airlines on how to inspect other Max 9 door inserts, but the FAA said Tuesday those technical instructions were only an „initial version“ and would be revised „due to feedback.“ Stated.
„The safety of the aircraft's passengers, not its speed, will determine when the Boeing 737-9 Max returns to service,“ the FAA said in a statement.
Calhoun said Boeing is in a „very anxious time“ for its customers and needs „customers to understand that every airplane with the Boeing name on it in the skies is, in fact, safe. „Transparency from companies is required,“ he said.
The NTSB is still investigating the accident, but the cause has not been determined. But the incident has put an uncomfortable spotlight on Boeing and one of its major suppliers. Spirit Aero Systemswhich manufactures the fuselage for the 737 Max.
Spirit is a defendant in a securities lawsuit that was refiled last month, accusing the company of hiding quality deterioration from investors.
The court filing includes an ethics complaint by an employee who claims her manager demoted her for refusing to underreport the number of defects found in Spirit's products. The employee said the manager was „retaliating against me for trying to do the right thing.“
Mr. Spirit declined to comment.
Boeing completely overhauled its safety reporting system in September 2019 following two fatal accidents involving 737 Max aircraft in 2018 and 2019. After review by the Board of Directors, Boeing established a Board-level Aerospace Safety Committee to centralize safety reporting functions.
The top engineers in each business unit, who previously reported to the executives leading those departments, now report to the company's chief engineer, who now reports to the CEO. The company asked then-chief engineer Greg Hyslop to move from Chicago to Seattle to be closer to Boeing's commercial aircraft factory.
Boeing has created a product and service safety group reporting directly to the chief engineer and named Beth Pastor, vice president of safety, security and compliance for Boeing's commercial aircraft business, to lead it. Two years later, the company appointed Vice President Mike Delaney, who will oversee the digital transformation of Boeing's production lines, to the newly created role of chief safety officer.
Calhoun said Delaney is the only person within Boeing who can give the green light to return planes with safety issues to service.
Morningstar analyst Nicholas Owens said Boeing made the right move in its safety restructuring. But he added that disruptions from the pandemic could undermine potential gains.
„Four years later, it's safe to say that the Max fix is still not achieved,“ Owens said. “The root cause is some kind of cutting corners or lack of process that seems to persist forever. not.“