FAA to maintain increased in-person oversight of Boeing for 'foreseeable future'

By David Shepardson

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The head of the Federal Aviation Administration will tell the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee on Thursday that the agency will maintain its increased on-site presence at Boeing and its supplier Spirit AeroSystems "for the foreseeable future."

FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker will tell senators the agency's decision to boost inspections after the Jan. 5 Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 9 in-flight emergency is now permanent, according to a copy of his written testimony seen by Reuters. Whitaker will say the FAA has added "additional inspections at critical points of the production process."

Whitaker will also say that, following lessons from the Jan. 5 incident, "the FAA changed its oversight approach and those changes are permanent. We have now supplemented our audits with more active, in-person oversight — the 'audit plus inspection' approach."

Boeing did not immediately comment.

On May 30, Boeing delivered a comprehensive quality improvement plan delivered to the FAA after Whitaker in late February gave Boeing 90 days to develop a comprehensive plan to address "systemic quality-control issues."

Whitaker said in his testimony "there must be a shift in the company’s safety culture in order to holistically address its systemic quality assurance and production issues."

He added the FAA wants "to make sure Boeing implements the necessary changes and has the right tools in place to sustain those changes in the long term."

Whitaker said Boeing committed to boosting employee training, encouraging employees to speak up without fear of reprisal, boosting supplier oversight and "increasing quality oversight at every step of the production process."

Whitaker said FAA "aviation safety inspectors will also monitor each of Boeing’s sub-teams tasked with implementing the key focus areas of the plan."

Whitaker in February barred Boeing from boosting production of its best-selling plane after a door panel blew out during the Jan. 5 flight. He said last month he did not expect Boeing to win approval to increase production of the MAX "in the next few months."

Whitaker also said Boeing had agreed to bring "state-of-the-art technology to Boeing tool and parts management."

(Reporting by David Shepardson; editing by Jonathan Oatis and Aurora Ellis)