It was a good first step for Boeing, but the airline manufacturer is not quite at the finish line yet.
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Administrator Mike
Whitaker said he would not feel comfortable clearing Boeing to resume
increased production of its popular 737 Max series of airplanes. Not yet anyway.
The FAA chief said it could take several months.
In the meantime, Boeing did meet its May 30 deadline to submit a safety plan to the FAA to correct its flaws. CEO Dave Calhoun met with the top agency officials to discuss a quality control and safety plan for the future in the wake of the January 5 incident in which a door panel fell off a Boeing plane.
That model, Boeing's best-selling brand, was used by Alaska Airlines when the incident happened midflight because the door plugs were not installed properly.
“We will not
approve production increases beyond the current cap until we’re satisfied,”
Whitaker said.
Weekly Meetings to Take Place
The FAA head said there is no timeline, but a decision probably won’t be made for the next several months. The safety and quality control plan is a good first step, but it has to be put into action. The agency will continue to increase its oversight and scrutiny of the company.
Whitaker will discuss the meeting with the House of Representatives Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure on June 4. “Boeing has laid out their roadmap, and now they need to execute,” he said.
To that end, Boeing leadership and FAA officials will meet weekly to discuss the progress. But Boeing had to cut production of the 737 Max by almost half, which has had a domino effect on its customers and, of course, the company's bottom line.
Boeing Chief Financial Officer Brian West said the company expects to burn cash this year.
In total,
Boeing has
lost more than $30 billion over the last five years.
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