Boeing under pressure amid string of safety and quality control issues

Geoff Bennett:

Boeing is one of the two aerospace manufacturing giants in the world. So its troubles are a major issue for the aviation industry.

And they were once again front and center today. Concerns are growing over Boeing's 737 MAX jetliners following a series of safety and quality control issues. Last month, a door panel blew off an Alaska Airlines 737 MAX 9 jet shortly after taking off from Portland, Oregon. No one was seriously injured.

The FAA grounded Boeing 737 MAX 9 planes after the incident for inspections and repairs. Today, the National Transportation Safety Board released its preliminary report into that incident. Investigators believe several bolts had been removed to repair rivets on the door panel's frame that had been damaged in the production process. But the missing bolts were never replaced.

The weeks since that incident have brought other issues. On Sunday, Boeing said a supplier found improperly drilled holes on window frames in some of their undelivered MAX planes. And, in December, Boeing alerted airlines to inspect their 737 MAX aircraft for loose bolts after two planes were missing the parts in their rudder control systems.

Back in 2018 and 2019, the 737 MAX's MCAS flight control software systems led to deadly crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia that killed 346 people. Boeing fixed the system, but that issue grounded the MAX jets for nearly two years.

This morning, the head of the Federal Aviation Administration, Michael Whitaker, faced questions before a House committee about his agency's oversight.

Rep. Garret Graves(R-LA):

Looking back at what happened in the aftermath of the MAX incidents, I can't help but think that the FAA had a lot of trouble walking and chewing gum, candidly. I think that they really struggled with being able to carry out all of their duties and responsibilities.

Geoff Bennett:

Whitaker said the FAA is now working to get more inspectors into facilities to provide better oversight.

Michael Whitaker, Administrator, Federal Aviation Administration:

So we're going to have more of a surveillance component, much like you would find on the flight line or in maintenance stations, where inspectors are actually on the ground talking to people and looking at the work that's being done.

Geoff Bennett:

Ed Pierson is a former senior manager at Boeing's 737 factory in Renton, Washington. He was involved in the development of the Boeing MAX airplanes.

What exactly did you witness?

Ed Pierson, Former Senior Manager, Boeing:

What I witnessed was an environment of incredible pressure, extreme pressure being placed on manufacturing employees, those employees that worked on the factory floor by executives. And we saw that pressure leading to process breakdowns in our production system.

Geoff Bennett:

And what was the response from senior leadership when you raised those concerns?

Ed Pierson:

Oh, they didn't want to hear it. The only thing they wanted to hear is how fast the planes can get out the door. And so that was their metric. And, unfortunately, it's the same metric today. We have seen this for the last six years.

Geoff Bennett:

In an interview on CNBC last week, Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun addressed concerns about the company's safety issues and oversight of its suppliers.

Dave Calhoun, CEO, Boeing:

We're going to learn from it. And, yes, the subject of how we interact with all of our suppliers at large, that will be a subject that we will be working at for quite a long time.

Geoff Bennett:

And we should say that Boeing declined the "NewsHour"'s request for an interview with its CEO, Dave Calhoun.

But shortly after the NTSB released its report today, Boeing issued a statement saying — quote — "An event like this must not happen on an airplane that leaves our factory" and said it was putting new inspections in place for the door panel assembly and with its suppliers throughout the manufacturing process.

Let's turn now to our aviation correspondent, Miles O'Brien. Miles, it's always great to see you.

So, Boeing is facing scrutiny for apparent problems with quality control, for larger issues with its corporate culture. You had this blowout of the Alaska airplane's door panel back in January. You had those two deadly crashes some five years ago. What accounts for it?

Miles O’Brien:

Well, this is a company that's in a heated competition with Airbus to maintain market share.

And, right now, it's losing. Certainly, since the twin MAX accidents, they have lost a lot of market share. So there's a lot of pressure to produce aircraft. And any time you have that pressure to go fast, it almost always runs up against safety.

And when you have a situation where a door is taken off, and there's not a checklist, there's no paperwork or virtual paperwork pulled, that the parts aren't even properly cared for or inventoried, you have got a system that's just broken. And the company admits it.

Geoff Bennett:

And there's a question about the role of the FAA in all of this, because the FAA chief told lawmakers today the current system is not working because it's not delivering a safe aircraft.

So what's their role in all of this and what does accountability look like for that agency?

Miles O’Brien:

At the heart of this, Geoff, is something they call organization designation authorization, ODA.

And what that means is, employees of the company, Boeing employees, are given authority to inspect and certify the aircraft. Well, there's an obvious conflict of interest there. This has to do as anything with the fact that the FAA does not have the resources to put inspectors on those factory floors actually looking over the shoulders of these workers.

So there is a fundamental concern here about whether the FAA needs to have congressional authority, which is to say, appropriations and a little more money, to put more inspectors in the field or at least create some kind of third party that doesn't have a dog in the hunt.

Geoff Bennett:

Miles, I got to tell you, Ed Pierson, the former Boeing senior manager I spoke with in that report, he said that he wouldn't fly a Boeing MAX plane under any circumstances, and he advises his family and friends against it as well.

Does the flying public have reason to be concerned about flying on one of these Boeing jets?

Miles O’Brien:

Well, I suppose you could make an argument, Geoff, that right now that aircraft is among the safest in the fleet, given the amount of scrutiny it's had since that incident.

I worry more about the system, writ large, Geoff. Coming after the pandemic, we have had a colossal brain drain in aviation, in control towers, on flight decks, and on the factory floors at Boeing. A lot of experience is no longer there.

You couple that with unprecedented demand for aviation, air travelers want to get back on those planes and seeing the world, and then added to that, you have the regulatory failure of the FAA. They should have people looking over those shoulders, watching people put those bolts back in, hopefully.

And, ultimately, they need to modernize the system. They have delayed for many years, for lack of money and impetus, to modernize the system to make it safer. So I worry about the system, writ large, more than I worry about a particular kind of aircraft.

Geoff Bennett:

Miles O'Brien, thanks so much for putting this all into context for us. We appreciate it.

Miles O’Brien:

You're welcome, Geoff.