The focus of US regulators remains on Boeing, according to US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, as the aircraft manufacturer works to resolve the quality issues it faces.
The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has announced that it is halting an increase in Boeing 737 MAX production, as a six-week audit of Boeing and supplier Spirit AeroSystems found multiple instances where the companies allegedly failed to comply with manufacturing quality control requirements.
Buttigieg told CNBC that air travel is the safest way to travel in the US, but “to remain safe, it will require Boeing to take action and the FAA to keep Boeing under the microscope, including this tough and unprecedented step of limiting the number of aircraft they can build in a month until they can prove that if they want to build a larger number, they can do it safely.”
The FAA also said Monday that it found “noncompliance issues in Boeing’s control of the manufacturing process, parts handling and storage, and product control.”
The FAA did not detail the specific corrective actions that Boeing and Spirit must implement, but sent a summary of its findings to the companies as part of the comprehensive audit.
“Based on our quality thresholds, the findings of the FAA audit and the recent expert panel report, we have a clear picture of what needs to be done,” Boeing said.
Last week, FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker said last week that Boeing must develop a comprehensive plan to address “systemic quality control issues” within 90 days, following an all-day meeting on Feb. 27 with CEO Dave Calhoun.
For his part, Mr. Buttigieg stated that Mike Whitaker “conveyed some real concerns about their inability to comply with the quality control practices that the FAA expects of them.”
