US aviation admin follows up Boeing roadmap for resetting safety culture

Administrator of the US Federal Aviation Administration Mike Whitaker met Thursday morning with Boeing President and CEO David Calhoun and other senior leaders to discuss next steps to ensure effectiveness of the company's plan for safety. FAA will continue to hold Boeing accountable after reviewing the company's roadmap to fix its systemic safety and quality-control issues, he said following the three-hour meeting at FAA headquarters. In February, Whitaker directed Boeing to develop a comprehensive action plan to set a new standard for safety and how the company does business following the January 5 Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 MAX door plug incident. This roadmap is necessary to reset the safety culture at Boeing, as well as address the findings of the FAA's special audit and the expert review panel report, according to a FAA press release. The company has developed this proposal over the last 90 days, with detailed input from the FAA throughout the process. Boeing senior leadership met with the FAA this mor ning to present the roadmap and discuss future implementation. Boeing is also now required to have a mandatory Safety Management System, which will ensure a structured, repeatable, systematic approach to identify hazards and manage risk. "In the immediate aftermath of January 5, the FAA took unprecedented steps to increase oversight on Boeing," Whitaker said. "Over the last 90 days, that has meant everything from more safety inspectors in the facilities to halting production expansion. "Today, we reviewed Boeing's roadmap to set a new standard of safety and underscored that they must follow through on corrective actions and effectively transform their safety culture," he affirmed. "On the FAA's part, we will make sure they do and that their fixes are effective. This does not mark the end of our increased oversight of Boeing and its suppliers, but it sets a new standard of how Boeing does business," he added. Source: Kuwait News Agency