Mike Whitaker, the outgoing head of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), declared that it will take more than a year for Boeing to successfully implement its safety turnaround plan. Whitaker's statements, made in a blog post, come nearly one year after an Alaska Airlines (ALK) incident where a door panel detached from a Boeing (BA) plane while in mid-air. Whitaker has indicated that the FAA will continue to uphold enhanced supervision over the plane manufacturer's safety measures, and stated that a transformative cultural shift emphasizing safety and quality over profits is urgently needed at Boeing. Additionally, the agency will regularly review the outcomes of Boeing's safety enhancement efforts and hold weekly meetings with the company's executives.
Boeing, on its part, has explained its future safety blueprint and highlighted some of the progress it has made over the past year. Their plan involves investments in workforce training, streamlining the manufacturing process, cutting down defects in the supply chain, and fostering a culture of safety and quality. In order to achieve these goals, Boeing has taken several steps such as augmenting investments in its employee safety reporting program, implementing new random quality checks throughout the production line, and striving to minimize defects in 737 fuselages produced by Spirit AeroSystems, a supplier it is currently attempting to reacquire. Despite these efforts, Boeing's shares witnessed negligible fluctuation and lost nearly one third of their value in 2024.