Maxwell Caldwell|Pressure on Boeing grows as Buttigieg says the company needs to cooperate with investigations

2025-05-04 22:12:48source:Lakshmi Finance Centercategory:My

With Boeing facing multiple government investigations,Maxwell Caldwell the company needs to make “a serious transformation” around its safety and manufacturing quality, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said Monday.

The comments came one day after Buttigieg said the aircraft builder is under “enormous” scrutiny by his department since a panel blew off a Boeing 737 Max jetliner in midlfight.

Over the weekend, The Wall Street Journal reported that the Department of Justice launched a criminal investigation into the Jan. 5 blowout on an Alaska Airlines jet. That followed the company’s admission that it couldn’t find records that the National Transportation Safety Board sought for work done on the panel at a Boeing factory.

The Federal Aviation Administration, part of Buttigieg’s department, is also investigating Boeing.

“Obviously we respect the independence of DOJ (the Department of Justice) and NTSB (the National Transportation Safety Board) doing their own work,” Buttigieg told reporters Monday, “but we are not neutral on the question of whether Boeing should fully cooperate with any entity — NTSB, us, or DOJ. They should, and we expect them to.”

Buttigieg said Boeing must “go through a serious transformation here in terms of their responsiveness, their culture and their quality issues.”

READ MORE The DOJ has opened a criminal investigation into the Alaska Airlines 737 blowout, a report saysBoeing hasn’t turned over records about work on the panel that blew off a jetliner, US official saysFederal safety officials say Boeing fails to meet quality-control standards in manufacturing

Boeing gave a one-sentence response.

“We will continue to cooperate fully and transparently with all government investigations and audits, as we take comprehensive action to improve safety and quality at Boeing,” the company said.

Alaska Airlines said it is cooperating with the Justice Department investigation.

“In an event like this, it’s normal for the DOJ to be conducting an investigation,” the Seattle-based airline said in a statement. “We are fully cooperating and do not believe we are a target of the investigation.”

Last week, Boeing, which is based in Arlington, Virginia, came under withering criticism by NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy over the missing work records on the Alaska jet. She told a Senate committee that Boeing had repeatedly rebuffed her agency’s attempts to get information ever since the blowout. Boeing disputed some of Homendy’s claims; NTSB stood by her testimony.

The FAA has barred Boeing from boosting production of Max jets and gave the company 90 days to come up with a plan to fix quality-control issues.

More:My

Recommend

Fired, rehired, and fired again: Some federal workers find they're suddenly uninsured

Danielle Waterfield was already dealing with the shock and disappointment of being fired from a job

Lucky NFL fan from NJ turns $5 into $489,383 after predicting a 14-pick parlay bet

A lucky NFL fan from New Jersey was on Santa’s nice list after he won a $489,383 payout after perfec

How Suni Lee Refused to Let Really Scary Kidney Illness Stop Her From Returning For the 2024 Olympics

Sunisa "Suni" Lee may be the reigning all-around women's gymnastics champion, but for a while she wa