After a recent visit to Boeing's sites, Michael Whitaker from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said he discovered issues with the company's safety culture, but he believes Boeing will improve.
Whitaker explained to NBC News' Lester Holt that there are concerns about safety culture at Boeing and that the company has been emphasizing production over safety and quality. He stated that the focus now is shifting towards safety and quality over production.
Whitaker talked with Holt more than two months later a door panel came off an Alaska Airlines 737 Max 9 shortly after taking off. This situation put Boeing under intense scrutiny.
After the airplane had to make an emergency landing in Portland, Ore., Boeing has faced criticism due to a series of airplane incidents. In early March, a United Airlines Boeing plane lost a tire after departure, adding to the safety-related concerns for the company.
Whitaker mentioned that he was troubled by the fact that a thorough safety briefing before entering the production area was not a standard procedure at Boeing. He also pointed out that there wasn't enough emphasis on quality, assurance, and safety, as the focus was mainly on production.
“And there’s nothing wrong with production, but it has to follow safety,” he said.
After initiating their own investigations into the recent incidents, the FAA criticized Boeing for quality control issues in a statement earlier this month. The agency's six-week review of Boeing found “multiple instances when the companies allegedly failed to comply with manufacturing quality control requirements.”
Holt read a recent statement from Boeing that said the company is focused on “demonstrating change and building trust one airplane at a time.”
The host of the “Nightly News” asked Whitaker whether, despite the increased criticism, Boeing might be “too big to fail.”
“Economics isn’t part of my portfolio, but I would say they’re too large to not make a good airplane. They have all the resources they need,” Whitaker responded. “There’s no reason they can’t make a good airplane and that’s our focus right now.”
