"Boeing's quality issues have prompted a growing chorus of former employees to come forward with concerns about the jet maker's manufacturing process.
The latest is Roy Irvin, a quality manager who retired in 2020 and said employees working on the 787 Dreamliner jets were discouraged from flagging problems or recommending changes to prevent snafus.
Irvin's written account was part of a pair of congressional hearings on Wednesday scrutinizing Boeing. One included another whistleblower, Sam Salehpour, who went public last week with his concerns about 787 joints, while the second featured testimony from members of a panel tasked with reviewing the plane maker's practices after two 737 MAX crashes.
At both hearings, panelists and whistleblowers described a company culture that discourages employees from coming forward with quality and safety concerns.
"I was told, 'We don't have enough time to do corrective actions, so don't write one,'" Irvin said in an interview. In pushing the company to address issues, "there was always the chance of not necessarily getting fired but moving to a position that would be much less important."
Federal safety officials are investigating claims made public last week by Salehpour about production of 787 Dreamliner jets. Deliveries of the jets, made at Boeing's Charleston, S.C., factory, were halted for nearly two years starting in 2020 amid various production and regulatory issues.
Boeing defended the safety of the 787 in a two-hour presentation to journalists this week, outlining what engineers described as an exhaustive testing and analysis process to investigate gaps in the plane's body and ensure its safety.
Boeing engineers said tests conducted over several years indicate that most gaps meet specifications, and the ones that don't don't compromise the plane's structural integrity.
Salehpour has said that the process Boeing used to fasten parts of the plane together left gaps wider than allowed by Boeing's own standards, potentially compromising the plane's durability.
On Wednesday, Salehpour described being ignored and sometimes berated by superiors for persisting with concerns about the manufacturing process. "There is a culture of, when you address the quality issues. . .you get threatened," he said.
At a separate hearing, members of an independent panel established by the Federal Aviation Administration said the company lacked sufficient safeguards to prevent retaliation against employees who flag safety issues.
"There was a lack of confidence that, if you were trying to report it anonymously, that anonymity would be maintained," said Javier de Luis, who was part of the review. He teaches aerospace engineering and his sister, Graziella de Luis, died in the second MAX crash in Ethiopia.
"There was a lack of confidence that things would actually get done and there was a very real fear of retribution and payback if you held your ground," he said.
Boeing said it is taking steps to encourage employees to speak up with concerns and is hearing from more employees. "We know we have more work to do and we are taking action across our company," a spokesman said.
A program in which employees can flag concerns anonymously or by name in January and February received as many entries as it would normally get in an entire year.
"We have exploded in the amount of 'Speak Ups' that have come in, because we're continually encouraging it," said Lisa Fahl, a Boeing vice president who previously oversaw 787 quality.
The jet maker is facing criticism for shortcomings in its quality-control and manufacturing operations in the wake of a midair blowout of a door plug on an Alaska Airlines flight in January. That plane, a smaller 737 MAX, was built at Boeing's Renton, Wash., factory.
Executives have since acknowledged that the company at times overemphasized moving planes down the assembly line and employed practices, such as completing work out of sequence, that aimed to speed production but also compromised quality.
The jet maker said last month that Chief Executive Dave Calhoun would step down at the end of the year as part of a broader executive shake-up.
Boeing declined to comment on Irvin's account. A spokesman said Boeing slowed 787 production and stopped deliveries for nearly two years starting in 2021 to ensure the planes met engineering specification in response to concerns raised by employees. "This was a clear demonstration of our commitment to listen and take action on employee feedback," he said.
Irvin worked as a quality investigator from 2011 to 2017 and was responsible for investigating problems and recommending corrective action. He then worked as a manager overseeing quality on planes as they came out of final assembly.
He said inspectors were rewarded for signing off on higher numbers of planes, encouraging them to rush through inspections. And managers often pressured teams to forgo corrective actions if the prescribed steps would be time consuming or required too much manpower, he said.
Irvin said the recent death of John Barnett, another quality manager who raised concerns about the jet maker, prompted him to come forward. Police said they were investigating Barnett's death as a suicide." [1]
1. Boeing Is Facing Complaints From Another Whistleblower. Terlep, Sharon. Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y.. 18 Apr 2024: B.1.
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