Boeing has overhauled two internal systems for employees to flag potential safety issues and manufacturing problems. Boeing is out to prove it can police itself.
The jet maker said it has overhauled two flawed-but-critical internal systems in which employees flag potential safety issues and manufacturing problems.
The changes are part of Boeing’s response to last year’s near-catastrophic fuselage panel blowout on an Alaska Airlines flight. The company has said it aims to change a culture that employees, regulators and Boeing’s own executives say has historically discouraged employees from flagging problems.
“We’re trying to add additional guardrails,” said Boeing safety chief Don Ruhmann, speaking to reporters about the changes.
Boeing needs to convince Federal Aviation Administration officials that it is capable of turning out glitch-free airplanes. The company has been under close watch by federal regulators ever since a pair of fatal crashes of its 737 MAX planes in 2018 and 2019. After the Alaska Airlines incident, the FAA stepped up supervision of the company’s Renton, Wash., plant and installed a production cap on 737 MAX planes.
Excerpt from WSJ
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