① In the first two months of 2024, reports submitted by Boeing employees on product and service safety increased by more than 500% over the same period last year; ② Boeing is currently encouraging its employees to promptly report their concerns about safety and quality issues to the company through an internally established “speak up” (Speak Up) channel.
Financial Services Association, May 25 (Editor: Xiaoxiang) As FAA Director Mike Whittaker said earlier this week: US aircraft manufacturer Boeing clearly still has a long way to go in solving safety issues...
Boeing said in the annual Chief Aviation Safety Officer (CASO) report released on Friday (May 24) local time, that in the first two months of 2024, the number of reports submitted by the company's employees on product and service safety issues increased by more than 500% over the same period last year.
Boeing said in this annual safety report that the sharp increase in the number of reports of these safety and quality issues occurred after the Alaska Airlines 737 MAX 9 airliner caused an Aircabin panel explosion on January 5.
Boeing is currently encouraging its employees to promptly communicate their concerns about safety and quality issues to the company through an internally established “speak up” (Speak Up) channel.
Boeing has also trained more than 160,000 employees on product safety, emphasizing the importance of speaking out boldly about concerns or issues.
Earlier, Boeing Vice President Lisa Fahl also stated last month, “The number of feedback we have received on Speak Up questions has exploded because we have been encouraging this.” At the time, she estimated that the reports submitted in January and February alone were equivalent to “a full year last year.”
In February of this year, when reviewing Boeing's safety management process, a panel of experts discovered that there was a “disconnect” between senior management of the world's major aircraft manufacturer and employees involved in its safety culture.
In response, Boeing's Chief Aerospace Safety Officer Mike Delaney also stated in his annual report, “Our product safety requires our safety culture to be based on detailed aerospace knowledge, transparency, and accountability. Our safety practices are Boeing's internal systems and structures that ensure product safety comes first in everything we do and every decision we make.”
“Our actions focus on further improvements to ensure that our products and services are safe, compliant, and consistent without compromise,” Delaney said.
Since the beginning of this year, accidents involving Boeing airliners have continued, causing the company to fall into a serious crisis of public trust. A series of incidents revealed quality and safety flaws in Boeing aircraft and led to the departure of its chairman, CEO, and head of commercial department, causing Boeing to be criticized by regulators, legislators, and airlines.
The FAA restricted Boeing production of 737 MAX airliners at the end of February, and ordered Boeing to submit a comprehensive rectification plan within 90 days to “resolve systemic quality control issues.” Next week is the deadline for submitting the plan.
US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Michael Whittaker also said in an interview on Thursday that for the past 90 days, the FAA has been closely coordinating the contents of the rectification plan with Boeing. This plan “is not the end, but the starting point,” and “there is still a long way to go to get Boeing back on the right path of making safe aircraft.” In his view, Boeing needs to restore product quality and safety systems and safety culture, and allow employees to talk openly about the issues they have discovered.