Feb. 26, 2024, © Leeham News: A Congressionally-mandated safety review study of Boeing Commercial Airplanes (BCA) dropped this morning. The 50-page report of a committee appointed by the Federal Aviation Administration found serious flaws in Boeing’s safety culture despite years of attempts to improve.
LNA is still absorbing the study, which may be downloaded here: Boeing Safety Study by FAA Panel 2-26-24
The Executive Summary is synopsized below.
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Executive Summary
- The Expert Panel observed a disconnect between Boeing’s senior management and other members of the organization on safety culture. Interviewees, including ODA Unit Members (UM), also questioned whether Boeing’s safety reporting systems would function in a way that ensures open communication and non-retaliation. The Expert Panel also observed inadequate and confusing implementation of the five components of a positive safety culture (Reporting Culture, Just Culture, Flexible Culture, Learning Culture, and Informed Culture).
- The Expert Panel found Boeing’s SMS procedures reflect the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and the FAA SMS frameworks. However, the Boeing SMS procedures are not structured in a way that ensures all employees understand their role in the company’s SMS. The procedures and training are complex and in a constant state of change, creating employee confusion especially among different work sites and employee groups. The Expert Panel also found a lack of awareness of safety-related metrics at all levels of the organization; employees had difficulty distinguishing the differences among various measuring methods, their purpose, and outcomes.
- Boeing’s restructuring of the management of the ODA unit decreased opportunities for interference and retaliation against UMs, and provides effective organizational messaging regarding independence of UMs. However, the restructuring, while better, still allows opportunities for retaliation to occur, particularly with regards to salary and furlough ranking. This influences the ability of UMs to execute their delegated functions effectively.
- The Expert Panel also found additional issues at Boeing that affect aviation safety, which include inadequate human factors consideration commensurate to its importance to aviation safety and lack of pilot input in aircraft design and
Failure to implement safety procedures
The panel was not directed “to investigate specific airplane incidents or accidents, or to make recommendations toward a specific airplane incident or accident, which either occurred prior to or during the Expert Panel’s work,” the Executive Summary continued. “However, on several occasions during the Expert Panel’s activities, serious quality issues with Boeing products became public. These quality issues amplified the Expert Panel’s concerns that the safety-related messages or behaviors are not being implemented across the entire Boeing population.”
More reporting will be forthcoming.
Update:
A Boeing official responded, “We transparently supported the panel’s review and appreciate their work. We’ve taken important steps to foster a safety culture that empowers and encourages all employees to share their voice. But there is more work to do. We will carefully review the panel’s assessment and learn from their findings, as we continue our comprehensive efforts to improve our safety and quality programs.”
Additional Boeing comments will appear in tomorrow’s LNA post.
SPEEA, the engineers and technicians union and a member of the Expert Panel, issued its own statement:
“SPEEA welcomes the report and believes it can be a catalyst for positive change at Boeing.
“Our members have long reported a disconnect between the messaging they get from Boeing headquarters in Chicago or Virginia, and the messages they get from their direct supervisors here,” said SPEEA Director of Strategic Development Rich Plunkett. “Quality and safety must be The Boeing Co.’s core values, embraced by everyone, but the report reflects the reality that people who see something are afraid of saying anything for fear of jeopardizing their careers.
“Our union has proposed an Aviation Safety Action Program, in partnership with Boeing and the FAA, that would allow our members to come forward without fear of retaliation whenever they spot a production or design error – or make one themselves,” Plunkett said.
“We hope that Boeing will accept our proposed program so that together we can work to restore Boeing’s reputation for quality, that generations of SPEEA members worked so hard to achieve.”
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