April 2 (UPI) — Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg will testify Wednesday before the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation to face questions on how the company is addressing production and safety issues.
Committee chair Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said in a statement Boeing has been subject to ramped up safety audits as well as intensified oversight from the Federal Aviation Administration since a door blew off on Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 in 2024.
“Given Boeing’s past missteps and problems, the flying public deserves to hear what changes are being made to rehabilitate the company’s tarnished reputation,” Cruz said. “I appreciate that Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg has agreed to testify before the Senate Commerce Committee to detail what steps the company has taken to strengthen its commitment to a safety-focused, quality-driven culture.”
Cruz added that Boeing has been a great American manufacturer and “and all of us should want to see it thrive.”
“Boeing has made missteps in recent years – and it is unacceptable,”Ortberg said in written testimony ahead of the committee hearing.
Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., in a Tuesday letter to the FAA, raised “critical concerns” regarding a program called Organization Designation Authorization that allows Boeing to certify its own work. She urged the FAA to deal with those concerns before its decision expected in May on whether to renew the company’s authorization.
Cantwell plans to question Ortberg about the ODA at Wednesday’s hearing.
Boeing has not commented on Cantwell’s letter. The FAA said it would respond directly to her.
In her letter Cantwell questioned why the agency asked for the ODA to resume in August 2023 for Boeing’s 737 and 787 production lines when FAA data showed quality declining.
In January, nearly a year after the 737 Max jet door plug blow-out during an Alaska Airlines flight, Boeing detailed some safety improvement steps it had taken.
Then-FAA Administrator Mike Whittaker said that improving safety at Boeing was “not a one-year project.”
Whittaker said Boeing needed a :fundamental cultural shift” oriented around safety.
