The Federal Aviation Administration, having grounded the Boeing 737 Dash 9 MAX aircraft earlier this month, said it is still investigating Boeing’s manufacturing practices and production lines, including those involving subcontractor Spirit AeroSystems. The FAA said it is bolstering its oversight of Boeing, and examining potential system change.
Alaska Airlines, which owns 65 of the new jets, is still experiencing schedule disruptions across its routes.
After the door-plug incident occurred on an Alaska Airlines jet on Jan. 5, the FAA announced requirements for an inspection and maintenance process as a necessary step before the FAA contemplates any further steps in the process to return Boeing 737 Dash 9 MAXs to service, the agency said.
The first 40 inspections that are part of that process are now complete, and the FAA is reviewing the data from them.
“All 737-9 MAX aircraft with door plugs will remain grounded pending the FAA’s review and final approval of an inspection and maintenance process that satisfies all FAA safety requirements. Once the FAA approves an inspection and maintenance process, it will be required on every grounded 737-9 MAX prior to future operation. The safety of the flying public, not speed, will determine the timeline for returning these aircraft to service,” the agency said on Wednesday.
Ben Minicucci, CEO of Alaska Airlines, also issued a statement on Wednesday, reassuring the public that the airlines had not only grounded the jet before the FAA took the same action, but is deploying its own quality-control staff to the Boeing plant to oversee the construction of jets that Alaska Airlines has purchased.
Meanwhile, several passengers aboard Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 who saw the door plug blowout are taking legal action, seeking compensation for associate traumas. Other passengers have already filed suit against Boeing, but the new lawsuit, filed in Seattle on Wednesday, points out that Alaska Airlines was concerned enough about the aircraft that it had pulled it from its over-water route to Hawaii. The jet had been delivered to Alaska Airlines from Boeing in October.
Spirit AeroSystems, which built the fuselage that ailed, issued no updates this week relating to the near-catastrophe that took place as the Alaska Airlines flight 1282 was climbing out of Portland International Airport en route to Ontario, Calif.
All three companies — Alaska Airlines, Boeing, and Spirit AeroSystems — have embraced DEI, a Diversity, Equity, Inclusion hiring system that prioritizes social engineering goals over skill, experience, and performance.
Boeing’s problems go beyond its DEI human resource strategy. The Wall Street Journal reports that a Boeing aerospace engineer published white paper in 2001 for an internal technical symposium.
The engineer, John Hart-Smith, “warned colleagues of the risks of the subcontracting strategy, especially if Boeing outsourced too much work and didn’t provide sufficient on-site quality and technical support to its suppliers,” the newspaper reported.
“The performance of the prime manufacturer can never exceed the capabilities of the least proficient of the suppliers,” Hart-Smith wrote in the paper. “These costs do not vanish merely because the work itself is out-of-sight.”
As Alaska Airlines and its passengers suffer from the Boeing-created near-disaster, United Airlines is also taking heat after video surfaced of its CEO Scott Kirby allegedly dressed in drag and publicly performing as a drag queen, raising further concerns about the seriousness of the company regarding safety and its focus on diversity, rather than quality control. United has over 70 o the Boeing 737 Dash 9 MAX aircraft, although the planes represent a smaller portion of United’s fleet than they do over at Alaska Airlines.
The FAA is supporting the National Transportation Safety Board’s primary role in the investigation into Alaska Airlines Flight 1282. FAA has also embraced DEI, establishing hiring targets that include bringing into the agency people with psychiatric problems and severe mental disabilities, as outlined in the agency’s own documentation.
