An internal Boeing Co. survey found many factory workers still felt pressure to prioritize speed over quality months after a midair blowout on one of the company's jets sparked a crisis of confidence in the planemaker.
According to the survey conducted with about 2,100 Boeing workers in May "- four months after a fuselage panel blew off a 737 Max aircraft shortly after takeoff "- less than half of frontline manufacturing personnel stated that schedule pressures didn't cause their team to lower standards. The revelation shows that workers continued to feel pressure to cut corners even after Boeing's campaign to overhaul its safety culture was well underway.
At that point, Boeing was finalizing a corrective action plan for the US Federal Aviation Administration and touting the work it was doing to address quality lapses the regulator had discovered in an audit of its production line, including cutting down on so-called traveled work where tasks are completed out of the normal sequence.
The May survey results were released by Democratic staff on the Senate's Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations in a memo ahead of a Wednesday hearing with FAA administrator Michael Whitaker on the agency's oversight of Boeing. The memo also contained other findings the staff said it's made as part of its ongoing probe into the planemaker's safety practices.
"The newly released information raises questions about the effectiveness of the FAA's oversight of the company," according to the memo.
In a statement, Boeing said it's "taken important steps to foster a safety culture that empowers and encourages all employees to share their voice."
"Under the FAA's oversight, we are continuing to implement our comprehensive plan to strengthen Boeing's safety management, quality assurance and safety culture," the company said in a statement.
On Tuesday, Whitaker told a separate House panel that the FAA is taking steps to be more proactive in the way it identifies and addresses safety risks in the aviation system. He also said it will take years, not months, for Boeing to fix its safety culture.
The Senate panel, which is chaired by Richard Blumenthal from Connecticut, isn't the first to raise concerns about the FAA's oversight following the January accident. The Senate Commerce Committee flagged similar issues at a June hearing with Whitaker, who acknowledged that the regulator had been too hands off with Boeing in the past "- something he says the agency has changed by placing more inspectors on the ground at the planemaker's factories.
A spokesperson for the FAA said Whitaker will respond to the lawmakers' questions at the Senate hearing Wednesday.
