Boeing’s safety culture remains flawed, despite improvements made after two fatal crashes involving the 737 Max 8 jet in 2018 and 2019, a Federal Aviation Administration report released on Monday found.
The report, written by a group of experts convened a year ago at Congress’s behest, found that there was a “disconnect” between senior management and other employees at Boeing, which makes commercial airplanes as well military aircraft and technology. The company, the panel found, has at times been “inadequate and confusing” in the way it has administered its safety culture.
In a statement, the F.A.A. said it would “immediately begin a thorough review of the report” and take action on its recommendations as appropriate.
“We will continue to hold Boeing to the highest standard of safety and will work to ensure the company comprehensively addresses these recommendations,” the agency said.
Boeing said in a statement that it supported the panel’s work and acknowledged that, while it had taken “important steps” to improve its safety culture, “there is more work to do.” Since 2019, the company has made changes to emphasize safety, from its board of directors on down.
New concerns about the company’s safety culture emerged last month after a panel blew open on a Boeing 737 Max 9 plane during an Alaska Airlines flight. The F.A.A. report does not refer to that incident, but the National Transportation Safety Board has said the panel, known as a door plug, on the Alaska plane may have left Boeing’s factory without critical bolts to hold it in place.
