Boeing releases safety plan to skeptical FAA

FAA Administrator Michael Wheeler discusses Boeing safety plan

This is "not the first time Boeing has promised it will clean house following a disaster"

(Image credit: Saul Loeb / AFP via Getty Images)

published 31 May 2024

What happened

Boeing executives met Thursday with Federal Aviation Administration officials to present a comprehensive safety plan FAA officials had demanded following the Jan. 5 loss of a door plug on an airborne Alaska Airlines 737 Max 9 airliner.

The FAA "reviewed Boeing's roadmap" and "underscored that they must follow through on corrective actions and effectively transform their safety culture," FAA administrator Mike Whitaker said. Boeing is "confident in the plan" and will "work under the FAA's oversight" to uphold its "responsibility to the flying public to continue delivering safe, high-quality airplanes," said Boeing airline division CEO Stephanie Pope.

The plan presented Thursday is "not the first time Boeing has promised it will clean house following a disaster," and it's "unlikely to quell concerns from the planemaker's sharpest critics," Politico said. It includes "several components to improve employee training, clarify instructions for assembly line employees, prevent suppliers from shipping defective components" and strengthen audits, CNN said.

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Rafi Schwartz has worked as a politics writer at The Week since 2022, where he covers elections, Congress and the White House. He was previously a contributing writer with Mic focusing largely on politics, a senior writer with Splinter News, a staff writer for Fusion's news lab, and the managing editor of Heeb Magazine, a Jewish life and culture publication. Rafi's work has appeared in Rolling Stone, GOOD and The Forward, among others.