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CNN
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Boeing CEO David Calhoun’s comments Wednesday were decidedly mixed. The Federal Aviation Administration has finally approved a set of inspection standards for 171 grounded 737 Max 9 planes, allowing them to return to service if they are followed. But he also learned that his company is facing new scrutiny over safety issues.
The FAA began its announcement late Wednesday with a stern warning: “The January 5 Boeing 737-9 Max accident must never happen again,” adding that some Alaska Airlines planes were affected by the incident earlier this month. He mentioned an accident where he was blown into the air. The FAA also said it would not allow Boeing to expand production of its 737 Max lineup while its safety investigation continues.
But the FAA has cleared the way for planes to return to the skies. Airlines, particularly Alaska Airlines and United Airlines, were facing hundreds of cancellations a day due to the grounding.
“The thorough and enhanced review that our team completed after several weeks of gathering information gives me and the FAA confidence to move forward with the inspection and maintenance phase,” FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker said in a statement. said.
Each of the 171 planes grounded must be inspected, including door plug bolts, fittings and guide tracks that were part of the fuselage that took off from an Alaska Airlines plane earlier this month.process That includes tightening fasteners and performing “a detailed inspection of dozens of related components.” ”
Boeing said in a statement Wednesday that it “continues to cooperate fully and transparently with the FAA and follow its guidance as we take steps to strengthen Boeing’s safety and quality.” We will also work closely with our airline customers to help them complete the inspection steps necessary to safely return their 737-9 aircraft to service. ”
Alaska Airlines said Wednesday that it expects the inspection to take 12 hours and the first 737 Max 9 planes to return to service on Friday. The inspection is expected to be completed next week.
United Airlines has received approval from the FAA to return 79 Boeing 737 Max 9 aircraft to its fleet this weekend, according to a memo from the company’s operations director obtained by CNN.
“We plan to return each Max 9 aircraft to service upon completion of this thorough inspection process,” said Toby Enqvist, United’s executive vice president and chief operating officer. “We are preparing the aircraft to return to regular service from Sunday.”
and Whitaker noted that Boeing itself is not out of the woods.
“But let me be clear: this does not mean a return to business as usual for Boeing,” he said. “Until the quality control issues identified during this process are resolved, we will not agree to Boeing’s request to expand production or approve additional 737 Max production lines.”
Wednesday’s meeting between Mr. Calhoun and Washington lawmakers ended in a CEO nightmare. Just before Boeing learned that it was facing further investigation, Calhoun was forced to defend the safety of his company’s planes to travelers.
“We are flying safe planes,” Calhoun told reporters gathered at the Capitol. “We don’t fly airplanes that we don’t have 100 percent confidence in.”
Calhoun acknowledged the seriousness of passenger concerns about flying and said he came to Washington in the spirit of transparency and openness to help lawmakers better understand the company’s efforts to improve safety. Ta.
“I’m here today to answer all of their questions, because they have a lot of questions,” Calhoun said.
After speaking with reporters, Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Washington, chair of the Senate Commerce Committee, announced that future hearings should be held to investigate Boeing’s safety record.
“American aviation in general and Boeing’s line employees deserve a culture of Boeing leadership that puts safety before profit,” Cantwell said in a statement. “We plan to hold a public hearing to investigate the root causes of these safety deficiencies.”
Mr. Cantwell said that in a meeting with Mr. Calhoun earlier in the day, Boeing emphasized the need to prioritize quality and engineering first. That commitment has become a hot topic after several incidents in recent years, including this month’s Alaska Airlines incident.
The National Transportation Safety Board is also investigating the incident.
The inability to increase production of the Max is a major blow to Boeing’s efforts to return to profitability.
Production of Boeing Co.’s best-selling 737 Max plane has yet to return to the speed it was at before two fatal crashes in 2019 grounded the plane for 20 months. It is not clear when he will recover. This is to advance efforts to restart production at a more profitable pace.
Industry experts cast serious doubts on whether Boeing will be able to avoid the investigation unscathed. Last week, a Wells Fargo report titled “FAA audit opens a whole new can of worms” cited long-standing quality control and engineering problems at Boeing.
“Given Boeing’s recent performance and the FAA’s strong incentive to find problems, we believe a clean audit is unlikely,” the analysts said.
A week earlier, Mr. Calhoun acknowledged at an all-employee safety meeting that the company had made a “mistake,” but he did not say what the mistake was. NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy called for answers about Boeing’s mistakes as part of a safety investigation separate from the FAA audit.
Over the past five years, Boeing has faced repeated quality and safety problems with its aircraft, leading to long-term groundings of some jets and halted deliveries of others.
The design of the 737 MAX was found to be the cause of two fatal accidents. One occurred in Indonesia in October 2018 and the other in Ethiopia in March 2019. Together, the two crashes killed all 346 people on board the two flights and led to a 20-month grounding. The company’s best-selling jets have sold for more than $21 billion.
Internal communications released during the 737 Max grounding show one employee describing the plane as “designed by clowns and overseen by clowns and monkeys.”
Late last month, Boeing told airlines to inspect all 737 Max jets for possible loose bolts in the rudder system after the airline discovered potential problems with two key parts on its planes. requested that it be done.
Its quality and engineering problems extend beyond the 737. Boeing also had to halt deliveries of the 787 Dreamliner for about a year starting in 2021 and twice in 2023 due to quality concerns cited by the FAA. A United Airlines 777 was also grounded after an engine failure sent pieces of the engine flying into houses and onto the ground below.
Two variants of the Max, Max 7 and Max 10, are still awaiting approval to start carrying passengers. Wells Fargo analysts said the incident further complicates that.
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