The head of the Federal Aviation Administration has acknowledged his agency should have been more aware of problems at Boeing before a door plug blew off a 737 Max jet during an Alaska Airlines flight in January.

The top U.S. aviation regulator said Thursday that the Federal Aviation Administration should have been more aware of manufacturing problems inside Boeing before a panel blew off a 737 Max during an Alaska Airlines flight in January.

“FAA’s approach was too hands-off — too focused on paperwork audits and not focused enough on inspections,” FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker told a Senate committee.

Whitaker said that since the Jan. 5 blowout on the Alaska jetliner, the FAA has changed to “more active, comprehensive oversight” of Boeing. That includes, as he has said before, putting more inspectors in factories at Boeing and its chief supplier on the Max, Spirit AeroSystems.

Whitaker made the comments while his agency, the Justice Department and the National Transportation Safety Board continue investigations into the giant aircraft manufacturer. The FAA has limited Boeing’s production of 737 Max jets to 38 per month, but the company is building far fewer than that while it tries to fix quality-control problems.

  • cheese_greater@lemmy.world
    59·
    12 days ago

    But yeah, companies don’t need oversight, the Free Market Sky Daddy covers it all in the blood of the lamb and makes it faultless

  • circuscritic@lemmy.ca
    331·
    12 days ago

    Get fucked. He has spent his whole professional career being an airline industry suit, which is why he was placed at the FAA by Biden: he’s another industry plant in an completey captured regulator, by an industry captured government.

    All he’s doing is stating the obvious because the cats out of the bag. Don’t hold your breath for this lifelong airline industry executive to be some savior or rebuilder of an independent FAA.

    Whitaker began his aviation career as a litigator, then as assistant general counsel of international and regulatory affairs at Trans World Airlines (TWA). He spent 15 years at United Airlines in a variety of roles as director, vice president and senior vice president. His portfolio at the airline included commercial alliances and joint ventures, international and regulatory affairs, and strategic counsel to the chairman and chief executive officer on international matters.Whitaker served as Group CEO of InterGlobe Enterprises.There, he oversaw strategy and operations for four affiliate travel companies.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Whitaker_(government_official)

    • SirSamuel@lemmy.world
      91·
      12 days ago

      I don’t know why you were downvoted because those are pure facts

      (i assume you wish for Whitaker to be fornicated, not the OP)

  • Chainweasel@lemmy.worldEnglish
    28·
    12 days ago

    The FAA has limited Boeing’s production of 737 Max jets to 38 per month

    I feel like when there’s at least one new scandal about their aircraft every week, the production should be limited to a big fat nil

      • dhork@lemmy.worldEnglish
        10·
        12 days ago

        They have a massive backlog of orders. They can not take a single new order and still have orders to fill for years.

        Now, if airlines start to cancel orders, that will hit Boeing more directly. But those airlines would take financial hits themselves, too, for canceling. And they still need more planes, so they will just end up placing new orders and be on Airbus’s backlog instead.

        • ccunning@lemmy.world
          14·
          12 days ago

          This seems to confirm the backlog (a shocking 5,600) but also the decline in new orders to just 4 in May; no Max’s for two months; and even a cancelation.

  • RubberDuck@lemmy.world
    18·
    12 days ago

    This is what politicians mean when they say small government. Gut all agencies tasked with oversight except the police.

      • RubberDuck@lemmy.world
        2·
        11 days ago

        Yes they where, and the FDA, but not the FBI (although post Trump they do… but move the funds to Homeland security)

        Here in the Netherlands our Liberal party (VVD) supported by christian democrats (CDA) and the current ruling party (PVV)… all right wingers. Did something similar, when in charge. They declared the housing market “fixed” and said that the commercial market would resolve any housing issues left. They proceeded to close down the whole branch of government the Ministry of housing. That was in 2010. Now 24 years later, houses are at their most expensive and the shortages ar at their highest ever. It is estimated it will take till at least 2038 to fix the issue.

        So… (Corporate) fatcats got fatter, people are paying a larger share of their income for a roof over their heads… but the government was smaller for 24 years and all those house value increases made the GDP look Soo nice.

    • linearchaos@lemmy.worldEnglish
      2·
      11 days ago

      We’ve concluded our investigation and we’ve ruled suicide.

      … But it was seven times in the head with a bolt action rifle…

      You heard us.

  • thesporkeffect@lemmy.world
    8·
    12 days ago

    The fact that Whitaker is just now saying this, when there is blood in the water around Boeing, makes it even less plausible that they are appropriately overseeing the situation. At this point we need to start having conversations about how to safely disassemble and nationalize Boeing.

    I understand this isn’t politically easy but we are well past ‘we promise we’re paying attention now’. The minimum action required to regain the status quo would be a full replacement of all executive leadership and criminal prosecution of all involved.