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By David Shepardson
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg said on Wednesday that the planemaker is focused on improving safety and not pressuring workers to speed up production after a 2024 mid-air 737 MAX 9 emergency.
"I'm not pressuring the team to go fast. I'm pressuring the team to do it right," Ortberg said at a U.S. Senate Commerce Committee hearing, adding that he was hopeful the company could resume producing 38 Boeing 737 MAX planes per month later this year and then surpass that, but was not committing to a date.
"I suspect it will be sometime this year," Ortberg said. He said airlines are frustrated by delivery delays but support the approach. "They know we've got to do this right."
Lawmakers have been scrutinizing the company since a January 2024 mid-air emergency involving a new MAX 9 that was missing four key bolts raised fresh questions about Boeing's quality and safety culture, as well as regulatory oversight.
"We've made drastic changes to our internal process to ensure that this will never happen again," Ortberg said.
After the incident, the Federal Aviation Administration imposed a production cap of 38 planes per month on the 737 MAX. Boeing is still awaiting FAA approval of two new versions of the MAX.
"Insufficient oversight of third-party suppliers and a lack of sufficient internal auditing procedures created an unsustainable, lack of safety culture at Boeing," said Senate Commerce Committee chair Ted Cruz, a Republican from Texas.
Ortberg told senators Boeing made "serious missteps" in recent years but has since made "sweeping changes."
Ortberg may also face questions on other issues, including the company's delayed Air Force One delivery schedule, the impact of tariffs and the status of the planemaker's criminal case involving representations it made about the 737 MAX before fatal crashes in 2018 and 2019 killed 346 people.
Ortberg took over as CEO in August of last year. His predecessor Dave Calhoun announced his resignation shortly after the January mid-air incident, in which an Alaska Airlines door panel blew out, and testified before a Senate panel in July.
Last month, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said Boeing had lost the trust of the American people and needed strict oversight after the Alaska Airlines incident and two fatal crashes.
The prior head of the FAA said it could take years to change Boeing's culture.
In July of last year, Boeing agreed to plead guilty to a criminal fraud conspiracy charge and pay at least $243.6 million after breaching a 2021 deferred prosecution agreement.
A U.S. judge last week set a June 23 trial date in the case after a media report that Boeing was seeking to withdraw from the terms of its plea agreement.
(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Edmund Klamann and Bill Berkrot)
