Alaska Airlines' CEO has dumped Boeing following recent near-disasters, revealing loose bolts were found in “many” of the airline's 737 MAX 9 planes.
CEO Ben Minicucci said new internal inspections of Boeing models in the company's fleet revealed bolts on “many” of the planes had come loose.
“I'm angry. I feel more than frustrated and disappointed. I'm angry,” Mini Cucci said. told NBC News Tuesday. “This happened at Alaska Airlines. It happened to our guests, it happened to our employees.
“And my request to Boeing is: What are you going to do to improve your internal quality program?” he added. “Boeing is better than this. Flight 1282 should never have happened.”
The CEO's interview was his first since the door plug of an Alaska Airlines-owned 737 MAX 9 carrying 177 people came off over Oregon during a flight to California on January 5, forcing the pilot to make an emergency landing. .
The Federal Aviation Administration has ordered all MAX 9 jets grounded and launched a safety investigation.
The agency also announced it would audit aircraft production lines and suppliers to “assess Boeing's compliance with approved quality procedures.”
FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker told CNBC The agency said Boeing's 737 MAX factory is “on site and operational,” adding that staff will remain at the factory until it is satisfied that quality control systems are sufficiently in place.
“We have a lot of inspectors on the ground doing visual inspections of aircraft as they pass,” Whitaker told the media Tuesday at FAA headquarters. “We are moving from an audit approach to a direct inspection approach.
NBC News
“Until I'm satisfied, [quality assurance] The system is working fine…we are going to put our boots on the ground,” he said.
Whitaker declined to comment on when the planes would return to service.
“It was hard to predict, so we kind of stopped trying. But as soon as the problem is resolved, it's going to be a problem again,” he told CNBC.
Minicucci told NBC News that Boeing needs to improve its quality control now to prevent incidents like this from happening again.
Meanwhile, the airline is building its own additional oversight into the production line, he said.
“We send auditors to audit our quality management systems and processes to ensure that every aircraft that leaves the production line and arrives in Alaska has the highest level of excellence and quality. ” he told the network.
The CEO said the company was “making plans” to purchase the MAX 10, but once the aircraft was certified, the company would decide “what is the best long-term strategic plan for Alaska's fleet mix.” He said he plans to evaluate it.
“It's clear that the doors on the planes we received from Boeing are defective,” he said.
“An NTSB investigation will now determine why the door was defective, poorly installed, missing hardware, or a manufacturing issue, but it is not clear whether Alaska Airlines rolled off the production line. There is no question that the aircraft was received with a defective door,” Minicucci said. Added.
Boeing told NBC News in a statement: We are taking action on a comprehensive plan to safely return these aircraft to service and improve quality and delivery performance. We will follow the FAA's lead and support our customers every step of the way. ”
Meanwhile, United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby also expressed frustration with Boeing, telling CNBC that Boeing is considering the future of its planes without the 737 MAX 10.
“I think the MAX 9 grounding was probably the straw that broke the camel's back for us,” he said. “We're going to come up with a plan that doesn't include Max 10.”
United Airlines also announced that more bolts were found loose on its MAX 9 jets.
“I… am disappointed that things like this continue to happen at Boeing. This is not new,” Kirby told CNBC. “We need Boeing to succeed. But they consistently face manufacturing challenges. They need to take action here.”
