FAA Anticipates Permanent Inspector Deployment at Boeing, Spirit AeroSystems

Administrator updates lawmakers on the Alaska Airlines incident and receives grilling over pilot retirement legislation.

John Gallagher

Wednesday, February 07, 2024 at 03:30 PM ET

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In addition to deploying inspectors at both Boeing and Spirit AeroSystems, the FAA will not grant a production expansion for the 737 Max. [Shutterstock]

Key Takeaways:

The FAA plans to indefinitely deploy inspectors at both Boeing and Spirit AeroSystems to oversee production and quality control, following incidents like the Alaska Airlines door plug blowout and recent manufacturing errors.
The FAA Administrator stated that Boeing will not be granted production expansion of its 737 Max units until all quality control issues identified during the ongoing audit are resolved.
Regarding the mandatory pilot retirement age, the FAA officially does not oppose raising it from 65 to 67 but insists on having data to support any such change, despite legislative pressure.

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FAA Administrator Michael Whitaker anticipates an indefinite deployment of inspectors at both Boeing and Spirit AeroSystems following its current six-week audit of the companies’ production and quality control measures.

“I think we’re also going to look at a culture survey that’s due at the end of the month and make a determination of how many folks we need on the ground in both places,” Whitaker told lawmakers on Tuesday during testimony before the House Transportation & Infrastructures’ aviation subcommittee.