According to a new report, US federal officials are looking to fine Boeing due to its negligence involving the 737 MAX safety procedures.
The authorities claim that Boeing managers pressured employees who perform safety inspections and key roles in maintaining the safety of the aircraft.
The Federal Aviation Administration [FAA] is seeking to fine Boeing US$1.25m for the case.
It says Boeing pressured and harassed employees if they did not speed up work or overlook certain issues.
The FAA also sent Boeing an enforcement letter after the company retaliated against a manager for complaining against pressure from Boeing by not providing him a fair opportunity for a promotion.
Boeing on the other hand claims that it investigated the allegations and reported the findings to the FAA.
Company spokesman Peter Pedraza, said, “Undue pressure of any type is inconsistent with our values and will not be tolerated.”
For years, the FAA has been designating company employees to carry out certain safety-related checks on aircraft.
This approach saves the government money, as designated employees follow certain guidelines and report back to FAA approved personnel.
These employees also issue certificates for planes meeting the desired standards. This personnel is to be independent of the other company workers.
However, this move has come under strong scrutiny after two Boeing 737 MAX crashes.
Boeing has been under the spotlight after it claimed it was well aware of the design flaws that led to the crashes.
With that, the employee situation certainly did not sit well with the company.
The first one- dealing with how Boeing has set up its FAA-designated employee program, amounting to a penalty of US$1.07m.
The second fine relates to when “Boeing managers exerted undue pressure or interfered with” employees conducting safety inspections on a Boeing 787-9, amounting to a penalty of US$184,522.
This surprising news comes just days after the FAA proposed final corrective measures for the Boeing 737 MAX.
The aircraft has been globally grounded after two major crashes. Boeing suspended the production of the MAX in January this year in order to tackle the situation.
An Unstable Future
This does not come easy for Boeing, as the company had to compensate airlines for issues caused by the jet.
The recent COVID crisis also added to the problem, not leaving the company in a good place.
With questions concerning the safety of operations, this news only adds more questions to an already existing problem.
The FAA has given Boeing 30 days to respond to the proposal to levy civil penalties.
With all that has been happening recently, one can only hope for safer skies ahead!
Source: Airwaysmagazine