Boeing agreed to buy Spirit AeroSystems, the Kansas-based supplier that makes fuselages for the 737 Max jet, in a deal intended to improve quality after a midair door plug blowout.
Boeing says a deal to buy fuselage-maker Spirit AeroSystems will help it control quality and safety. But a whistleblower who worked at Spirit for over a decade warns its problems won’t be easy to fix.
In January, a door plug flew off a Boeing 737 Max 9 plane during a flight, leaving a hole in the fuselage, some of which are produced by Spirit AeroSystems Holdings Inc.
The findings, part of a six-week audit by the FAA, singled out both Boeing and Spirit AeroSystems in the wake of January's in-flight door plug blowout on an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 Max 9 jet.
The Boeing executive who oversaw the troubled 737 Max program, Ed Clark, has left the company. It's part of a broader management shakeup after a door plug panel blew off a jet in midair last month.
Federal investigators are scrutinizing Spirit AeroSystems, a major Boeing supplier based in Kansas, as they try to understand why a fuselage panel blew off an Alaska Airlines jet in midair last month.
The aircraft maker is under renewed pressure to strengthen quality management across its production lines. But critics say a fundamental cultural shift is needed.
