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Boeing cuts MAX production rate

Apr 5, 2019Michael Bruno and Sean Broderick

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Boeing announced late April 5 it will slow 737 MAX production from 52 to 42 aircraft a month by mid-April, indicating that the type’s grounding and delivery halt will last longer than initially expected.

The announcement came minutes after stocks closed regular trading on Wall Street and after Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg released a videotaped statement earlier in the day expressing the US manufacturer’s sorrow for lives lost in recent MAX crashes and how the company is working to change the maneuvering characteristics augmentation system (MCAS).

“As we continue to work through these steps, we're adjusting the 737 production system temporarily to accommodate the pause in MAX deliveries, allowing us to prioritize additional resources to focus on software certification and returning the MAX to flight,” Muilenburg said in announcing the slowdown.

“At a production rate of 42 airplanes per month, the 737 program and related production teams will maintain their current employment levels while we continue to invest in the broader health and quality of our production system and supply chain,” Boeing continued. “We are coordinating closely with our customers as we work through plans to mitigate the impact of this adjustment. We will also work directly with our suppliers on their production plans to minimize operational disruption and financial impact of the production-rate change.”

The MAX fleet has been grounded since March 13. The production slowdown is a significant turn of events considering that in February the OEM was looking to raise MAX production rate to 57 aircraft a month this summer. Boeing and suppliers were rehearsing for a rate increase from 52 a month before Ethiopian Airlines flight ET302 crashed March 10.

FAA defends qualifications of US MAX aviation safety inspectors

Apr 5, 2019Ben Goldstein | ATW Plus

Getty Images/Stephen Brashear

FAA acting administrator Dan Elwell on April 4 defended the qualifications of US FAA Aviation Safety Inspectors (ASI) involved with the Flight Standardization Board (FSB) for the Boeing 737 MAX 8, saying that “all of the flight inspectors who participated in the [FSB] certification activities were fully qualified.”

His remarks, sent to US Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation chairman Roger Wicker (R-Mississippi), came in response to an April 2 announcement that the committee is launching an investigation into the qualifications of the ASIs, citing whistleblower complaints alleging numerous FAA employees involved with the Aircraft Evaluation Group (AEG) for the Boeing 737 MAX had not received proper training and valid certifications.

In announcing the committee investigation, Wicker wrote that “some of these FAA employees were possibly involved as participants on the FSB ... Specifically, the committee is concerned that such potential lack of training and certification of FAA ASI, and participation of those ASI on the FSB, may have led to an improper evaluation of the maneuvering characteristics augmentation system (MCAS).”

Elwell said the FAA’s Office of Audit and Evaluation had launched an investigation in November 2018 into whistleblower complaints from an ASI who alleged that safety inspectors with the AEG did not meet mandatory training requirements. He said the allegations were specific to the AEG, having nothing to do with inspectors working on the Flight Standardization Board (FSB) for the 737 MAX—although he did not address whether the probe had uncovered issues regarding the qualifications of FAA employees involved with the AEG who did not participate in the FSB.

AEGs, which coordinate and assist with aircraft certification and continued airworthiness programs, form FSBs to determine requirements for pilot type ratings and minimum training recommendations, as well as to ensure competency of initial flight crew members.

The acting administrator acknowledged that separate concerns raised by the same whistleblower, including allegations of retaliation by management, “were substantiated during the investigation and will be remedied as soon as possible,” adding that the front-line manager found to have retaliated against the inspector is no longer employed at the FAA.

Elwell told Wicker he would supply the committee with a “fuller response” by April 16, which will include more details regarding the timeline and specifics of the internal probe.

The Senate probe into ASI qualifications comes amid a half-dozen other congressional, regulatory and criminal probes examining various aspects of the 737 MAX’s development and certification, adding heightened scrutiny to Boeing and the FAA ahead of  a planned software fix expected to be rolled out in the coming weeks.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Connecticut), a member of the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, wrote on Twitter that the whistleblower allegations have “added reason for alarm and independent scrutiny before the Boeing 737 MAX 8 is allowed to fly again,” adding that Congress “should end safety outsourcing, slipshod training and systemic lapses.”

Blumenthal has previously said he intends to introduce legislation to reform the Organizational Designation Authority (ODA) program that allows FAA to delegate safety and certification requirements to manufacturers like Boeing, saying at a recent subcommittee hearing the program amounts to “leaving the fox in charge of the henhouse.”