Boeing officials explained their plan to improve manufacturing quality and safety during a three-hour meeting Thursday with federal officials, who will continue restrictions they placed on the company after one of its jetliners suffered a blowout of a fuselage panel in January.
Federal Aviation Administration chief Mike Whitaker said the plan is comprehensive and includes encouraging Boeing employees to speak up about safety concerns.
''This is a guide for a new way for Boeing to do business.'' Whitaker told reporters after the meeting. ''Boeing has laid out their road map, and now they need to execute.''
Boeing released an 11-page summary of its ''Product Safety and Quality Plan," which described steps the company is taking, including increased inspections and tighter controls over suppliers. It also says how Boeing will measure its improvement.
CEO David Calhoun, who announced after the Jan. 5 blowout during an Alaska Airlines flight that he would step down at the end of the year, said the document was crafted from comments by employees, the FAA, airlines and independent experts.
''Many of these actions are underway, and our team is committed to executing on each element of the plan,'' Calhoun said in a statement. ''It is through this continuous learning and improvement process that our industry has made commercial aviation the safest mode of transportation. The actions we are taking today will further strengthen that foundation.''
Stephanie Pope, a possible successor to Calhoun who was recently promoted to chief operating officer and chief executive of Boeing's commercial airplanes division, said the plan was designed to improve employee training, simplify manufacturing, "eliminate defects at the source, and elevate our safety and quality culture.''
Nobody was hurt during the Jan. 5 blowout of a door plug on a relatively new Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 Max 9 as it flew above Oregon. Accident investigators determined that bolts used to help secure the panel were missing after a repair job in a Boeing factory.