NTSB Hears Testimony of Boeing Retaliation for Workers’ Mistakes

Second day of Washington, D.C., proceeding brings into question the aircraft giant’s overall corporate culture.

Thursday, August 08, 2024 at 10:11 AM ET

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The door plug on an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 Max 9 blew off as the aircraft climbed through 16,000 feet. [Courtesy: NTSB]

Key Takeaways:

NTSB hearings revealed a corporate culture at Boeing where employees fear retaliation for reporting mistakes, with Chair Jennifer Homendy noting workers are "moved" and refer to certain facilities as "cages" for speaking up.
The investigation into the 737 Max 9 door plug failure highlighted significant process failures, including missing paperwork for the door's reinstallation without retaining bolts, and a factory culture of rushed training and high employee turnover.
Despite Boeing's "speak up" policy, many employees are unfamiliar with it or fear non-confidentiality and retaliation, leading to an increase in safety reports to the FAA from Boeing and contractor employees since the accident.

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Day 2 of the National Transportation Safety Board hearing over the door plug failure on a Boeing 737 Max 9 brought to light a corporate culture where the employees fear retaliation for reporting mistakes.

On Wednesday in Washington, D.C., NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy noted the investigation into the door plug blowout in January near Portland, Oregon, has revealed that the message to Boeing workers is “you mess up, you get moved.”

Meg Godlewski

Meg Godlewski has been an aviation journalist for more than 24 years and a CFI for more than 20 years. If she is not flying or teaching aviation, she is writing about it. Meg is a founding member of the Pilot Proficiency Center at EAA AirVenture and excels at the application of simulation technology to flatten the learning curve. Follow Meg on Twitter @2Lewski.