Summary Boeing publicly shared its Product Safety and Quality Plan after FAA criticism. Areas of focus include SMS, simplifying processes, and training enhancement. Intense Boeing-FAA engagement and oversight is in place to ensure plan execution.
The door plug blowout on the Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 9 flight in January became a highly publicized event and a deep embarrassment for Boeing . It led to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issuing the second grounding for the Boeing 737 MAX since its initial introduction in 2017, while it ordered inspections of each door plug. Yet, worse was to come for Boeing.
After the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) issued preliminary findings that showed four bolts meant to hold the door plug in place were missing, the FAA auditors descended on the Boeing 737 assembly line. The subsequent FAA report was sharply critical of Boeing, citing "gaps in Boeing's safety journey," and in late February, FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker gave Boeing 90 days to come up with a plan to fix the problems. The Boeing roduct Safety and Quality Plan Boeing subsequently made public an 11-page summary of its Product Safety and Quality Plan , which describes the company's planned improvements in seven specific areas.
It also met with the FAA in May to review the plan, which Whitaker described as “a guide for a new way for Boeing to do business,” adding that he expects the company to produce “systemic change.” The FAA and Boeing now meet.