Fights over Boeing’s serious safety problems cannot be put off forever

To avoid upsetting Number of Americans flying over Memorial Day weekend nears record highbut The plane that was caught in “severe turbulence” last week was a Boeing.

“The fact that the public is becoming so knowledgeable about specific airplane models means things are getting worse.” Comedian John Oliver said of Boeing:“Clearly something has to change at Boeing.

In the past two months, Two people who had publicly criticized Boeing’s lack of attention to safety have died: one by suicide, the other by sudden infection..

Their suspicious deaths occurred after a door fell from a Boeing plane during an Alaska Airlines flight in January. Boeing paid Alaska Airlines $160 million in damages over the accident last month..

The life-threatening drama at 30,000 feet happened as Congress was flying over a graveyard of recent crashes to work on recertifying the Federal Aviation Administration.

of Five years, $105 billion The bill was passed this month.

The bill was passed this month Days after the Department of Justice sent a letter to a U.S. District Court judgeBoeing reportedly breached a contract it signed in 2021 to avoid criminal liability for two fatal crashes of its 737 MAX jets in 2018 and 2019.

among them transaction The company paid a $2.5 billion fine and promised to make safety improvements.

Family members of those who died in the crash plan to meet with the Justice Department this week to seek “satisfactory relief for Boeing’s continuing criminal conduct.” According to a statement from the family’s attorney, Paul Cassell:.

The deaths of the two whistleblowers came as Congress heard testimony from a third Boeing whistleblower, who said the company made production cuts on planes that increased the risk of them crashing.

At a separate hearing on Boeing held by the Senate Commerce Committee last month, the brother of a woman who died in a crashed Boeing plane said the company has two faces.

Boeing management has told employees, “Safety is our number one priority… but [workers] That remains true as production milestones are being met.” Javier de Luis said.

De Luis’ testimony was compelling because he also lectures on aeronautics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

But pressure on Congress to keep the FAA running has overshadowed Boeing’s need to improve its safety protocols. Several interim funding bills for the FAA had expired, and the White House approved a one-week extension amid protracted negotiations over the current bill.

“This bill does not fully address the many troubling issues that have come to light since the door plugs on an Alaska Airlines plane blew off in flight.” Senator Tammy Duckworth [D-Illinois], He serves as chairman of the Commerce Department’s Subcommittee on Aviation.

“Congress needs to look more closely at these issues,” Sen. Duckworth said on the Senate floor, “but that will take time. We cannot delay passing the FAA’s reauthorization while we continue to exercise oversight over Boeing.”

Boeing’s problems were deemed serious by the National Transportation Safety Board. Identified Boeing said the move “reveals deficiencies in Boeing’s approach to safety” after it reported that planes with missing door plugs had left factories without the bolts needed to secure the doors in place.

But in Congress, Boeing, an American economic powerhouse that supplies planes to commercial airlines as well as the military, appears to be viewed by politicians as a company that falls into the “too big to fail” category.

Boeing’s current escape from congressional accountability reflects election-year politics.

With the November election looming, the AFL-CIO and its 12.5 million workers pushed The House and Senate are urging swift passage of the bill. It unionized 67,000 airline pilots, 20,000 air traffic controllers and 50,000 flight attendants..

New legislation to address concerns about the safety of Boeing planes has fallen off the agenda as the focus has shifted to political benefits for travelers.

invoice What’s Included The measures include improving how refunds are given to passengers for cancelled flights and preventing extra charges for families booking seats together, and there is also money set aside for more air traffic controllers to reduce flight delays.

Boeing’s safety problems have also waned as Congress has focused on upgrading airports in its key districts, such as strengthening runway collision prevention technology and improving cockpit recorders.

And of most personal concern to lawmakers and their staff, there was a provision in the bill that would allow airlines to operate multiple long-haul flights to cities west of the Mississippi River from nearby Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. Currently, the airport, conveniently located near Capitol Hill, is limited to trips of less than 1,250 miles.

The end result is a promise that Boeing’s safety record will be addressed later.

President Biden signed the bill earlier this month, but it has inevitably sparked a major public fight over Boeing’s future.

Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun Announced He is due to step down by the end of the year, but the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Subcommittee on Investigations Asked Calhoun has been invited to testify before Congress but has not shown up so far.

Already, a top adviser to Boeing shareholders has said:Major concerns“The current management team has fostered a culture that prioritizes profits over safety.”

How about calling former “safety first” secretaries of transportation Anthony Foxx, Ray LaHood and Rodney Slater?

Juan Williams is an author and political analyst for Fox News Channel.