The company has been beset by quality problems — like a whole fuselage panel blowing off an Alaska Airlines jet — in manufacturing of its popular 737 Max jetliner. (Ellen M. Banner/The Seattle Times via AP)
The Federal Aviation Administration is giving Boeing 90 days to come up with a plan to fix quality problems and meet safety standards for building new planes.
The agency said Wednesday that the directive follows meetings with top Boeing officials, including the company's CEO at FAA headquarters in Washington.
“Boeing must commit to real and profound improvements,” said FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker. “Making foundational change will require a sustained effort from Boeing’s leadership, and we are going to hold them accountable every step of the way."
The FAA said new deadline comes after FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker met with Boeing CEO David Calhoun and other top company officials.
Calhoun said that “we have a clear picture of what needs to be done” because of company and independent reviews. “Boeing will develop the comprehensive action plan with measurable criteria that demonstrates the profound change that Administrator Whitaker and the FAA demand.”
The FAA did not indicate what action it might take if Boeing fails to meet the 90-day deadline.
The FAA is currently completing an audit of assembly lines at the factory near Seattle, where Boeing builds planes like the 737 Max that suffered a door-panel blowout in January. Investigators say bolts that help keep the panel in place were missing after repair work on the Alaska Airlines jet at the Boeing factory.
This week, a panel of industry, government and academic experts issued a report that found shortcomings in the safety culture at Boeing, which the company says it has been working to improve. Boeing this month replaced the executive who had overseen the 737 program since early 2021.
Two Democratic senators are pushing for legislation to change the Federal Aviation Administration's standards around seat sizing and spacing on aircrafts. Sens. Tammy Duckworth and Tammy Baldwin have introduced a new bill, which would also require the FAA to set new standards for aircraft evacuations that are more realistic in case of emergencies.
Jury selection in the groundbreaking trial of a former sheriff's deputy charged with failing to confront the killer of 14 students and three staff members at a Florida high school five years ago got off to a speedy start Wednesday, with the preliminary round concluding in just one day.
Centrist Democrats and Republicans pushed it to approval over blowback from conservatives and some progressives. The Senate is expected to act quickly by the end of the week.
We know life can be tough sometimes, so we'd like to take a moment to share One Good Thing happening in the world today. A Wisconsin woman has gone viral after taking in a stray cat that had been coming to her door every single day for a few weeks.
Families of passengers who died in the crash of a Boeing 737 Max in Ethiopia can seek damages for the pain and terror suffered by victims in the minutes before the plane flew nose-down into the ground, a federal judge has ruled.
Former first lady Rosalynn Carter has been diagnosed with dementia, and the Carter Center said her family wanted to share her health news to increase important conversations around the country. According to the CDC, there are about 5.8 million people in the United states living with dementia. Here to help us understand this complex disease is Dr. Jen Caudle, family physician and associate professor at Rowan University.
