Boeing to add more inspections for 737-9 Max fleet

In a message to employees, Boeing Commercial Airplanes President and CEO Stan Deal announced immediate actions the company is taking to bolster quality assurance and controls in 737 production. “As we continue to respond to the Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 accident, our team has been working with the five affected airlines to inspect their 737-9 fleet. They have been examining and collecting measurements around the mid-exit door plugs to ensure they are installed per specifications. While we complete these tasks to earn Federal Aviation Administration approval to unground the affected 737-9s, our team is also taking a hard look at our quality practices in our factories and across our production system. We have taken important steps in recent years to strengthen our Quality Management System’s foundation and its layers of protection. But, the AS1282 accident and recent customer findings make clear that we are not where we need to be. To that end, we are taking immediate actions to bolster quality assurance and controls across our factories,” the company said. Boeing is planning additional inspections throughout the build process at Boeing (BA) and at Spirit (SPR). These checks will provide one more layer of scrutiny on top of the thousands of inspections performed today across each 737 airplane, and build on the reviews we have implemented to catch potential non-conformances. Additionally, the company has deployed a team to work alongside Spirit AeroSystems to complement the existing teammates on the ground. Its team is now inspecting Spirit’s installation of the mid-exit door plug and approving them before the fuselage section can be shipped to Boeing. It is also inspecting more than 50 other points in Spirit’s build process and assessing their build plans against engineering specifications. These actions are separate from the FAA’s investigation and the agency’s plan to increase oversight of 737-9 production.