The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced Friday it has proposed civil penalties totaling $3,139,319 against The Boeing Company for multiple safety violations occurring between September 2023 and February 2024. According to the FAA, the proposed Boeing fines include actions linked to the Jan. 4, 2024, door plug blowout, as well as interference with the independence of safety officials. The agency said it exercised its maximum statutory authority for civil penalties under current law.
The FAA said in its statement that it had identified “hundreds of quality system violations” during that time period within Boeing’s 737 manufacturing facility in Renton, Washington. It also observed further violations at Spirit AeroSystems’ 737 plant in Wichita, Kansas, as well. The FAA also said that Boeing presented the agency with two unairworthy aircraft for certification and had failed to follow its own quality procedures. The agency also added that this series of violations reflected significant lapses in oversight within the 737 program.
In addition, the FAA said a non-ODA Boeing employee pressured a Boeing Organization Designation Authorization unit member to sign off on a 737 MAX aircraft that the unit member determined did not meet compliance standards.
The FAA reported the action was taken to help Boeing meet its delivery schedule. Boeing has 30 days from receipt of the FAA’s penalty letters to respond to the proposed fines, according to the agency.
$3.1 million is nothing. Considering the lapses revealed at Boeing both through the MCAS debacle and the door plug debacle, a steeper fine would ensure lasting motivation for better QA and oversight would be put into place.
Instead the regulators appear to be impotent at best or bought and paid for at worst; a situation similar to what got Boeing into this mess in the first place. So one can reasonably predict a few efforts at qualitative improvement to be put in place. Then, as attention moves elsewhere, Boeing will return to bad habits.
Perhaps we see an argument for reform at the FAA? We do see a convincing reason to look elsewhere for leadership in aviation.