Boeing’s CEO spent the day visiting Spirit AeroSystems’ headquarters and factory in Wichita, Kansas, and promised that the 2 firms would work together to “be higher.”
In Washington, Homendy and FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker spent two hours briefing members of the Senate Commerce Committee. Officials indicated that their separate investigation into Boeing and the accident was in its early stages.
“Nothing has been said about penalties or enforcement, but I have no doubt that when the end result comes, there will be consequences,” said Sen. Jerry Moran, a Republican from Kansas.
Moran said Whitaker indicated that the FAA was focused “on the challenges that Boeing has been facing for a very long time, and this incident, this potential disaster, was only one element.”
During the briefing, “there was also an interest in ensuring the FAA was doing its job when it comes to its oversight,” Moran said in an interview.
The FAA and NTSB declined to comment on the briefing.
Boeing said CEO David Calhoun visited Spirit AeroSystems’ Wichita plant, which produces much of the fuselage of Boeing Max jets, and installed the part that got here from an Alaska Airlines jet.
“We’re going to get better and better” as engineers and machinists at Boeing and Spirit “learn from this, and then we’ll apply it to literally everything we do together,” Calhoun said.
Shanahan told employees that by working with the NTSB, FAA, airlines and Boeing “we’ll restore trust.”
The meeting of CEOs took place at a time when each firms were facing scrutiny of the standard of their work.
Boeing CEO admits Alaska Airlines incident was ‘our mistake’
The NTSB is investigating the accident, while the FAA is reviewing whether Boeing and its suppliers followed quality control procedures.
Alaska and United Airlines, the one other U.S. airline flying the Max 9, reported finding loose components in door plugs on other planes they inspected after the crash. Both airlines cancelled tons of flights and their Max 9 aircraft were grounded.
Boeing shares rose 1 percent on Wednesday but have fallen 18 percent because the accident, making the Arlington, Virginia-based company the worst performer within the Dow Jones Industrial Average this era.
