It’s smart for the Federal Aviation
Administration to give Boeing an ultimatum. For both entities.
The FAA said the beleaguered airline
manufacturing company has 90 days to develop a safety plan to address
its quality control issues.
Here’s how it helps both sides.
It is just this man's opinion that the FAA
and the Department of Transportation have no bite. Oh, the FAA talks a good
game about punitive damages. But in the end, the government agency is only at
its best when it doles out fines. And in retrospect, it's like giving out a
fine of a buck or two to you and me when it comes to major airlines and their
bushels of cash.
If the FAA follows through and forces
Boeing to comply with the plan, it will help to restore some much-needed
credibility to the government agency.
Let's face it: the FAA is at a crossroads.
By not doing anything of its own, it is underfunded and has a shortage of air
traffic controllers. That said, it simply cannot have near-collisions on the
runways and airplanes falling apart in the air.
I mean, at its core, the FAA is supposed
to be an oversight committee.
And this 90-day plan also helps Boeing.
When companies investigate themselves over
incidents of wrongdoing, they tend to drag their heels a bit. This plan is not
intended to rush Boeing. Instead, the expediency addresses complacency and
safety issues that need to be investigated sooner rather than later.
And in some ways, it helps Boeing prove to
the world that it is on top of its game. As I have mentioned before, this is a
company that helped put a man in space, for goodness sake. It needs to regain
some of its stature.
But sometimes, public perception is
overwhelming and takes time to overcome. And right now, the public perception
of Boeing is at an all-time low.
But addressing the matter, whether it is
forced to do so or not, shows that Boeing is willing to tackle the problem
quickly. It won’t happen overnight, but Boeing needs to look into this and get
it resolved as soon as possible and not let it linger.
It sounds like this is a cultural issue
with the company. It takes a while to change the culture. It's like gaining
weight. It takes a long time to put it on, and it takes a long time to take it
off.
For once, this is an ultimatum that may
benefit both sides.
For the latest travel news, updates and deals, subscribe to the daily TravelPulse newsletter.
Topics From This Article to Explore
