Boeing CEO pressed by Senate to detail plane maker’s recovery

WASHINGTON — Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg told senators on Wednesday that he’s completely happy with the corporate’s progress improving manufacturing and safety practices following several accidents, including a near catastrophe last yr.

Ortberg faced questioning from the Senate Commerce Committee about how the corporate will be certain that it doesn’t repeat past accidents or manufacturing defects, in his first hearing since he became CEO last August, tasked with turning the manufacturer around.

Sen. Ted Cruz, R.-Texas, the committee’s chairman, said he wants Boeing to succeed and invited company managers and factory staff to report back to him their opinions on its turnaround plan. “Consider my door open,” he said.

Ortberg acknowledged the corporate still has more to do.

“Boeing has made serious missteps lately — and it’s unacceptable. In response, we now have made sweeping changes to the people, processes, and overall structure of our company,” Ortberg said in his testimony. “While there remains to be work ahead of us, these profound changes are underpinned by the deep commitment from all of us to the security of our services.”

Boeing executives have worked for years to place the lasting impact of two fatal crashes of its best-selling Max plane behind it. 

Ortberg said Boeing is in discussions with the Justice Department for a revised plea agreement stemming from a federal fraud charge in the event of Boeing’s best-selling 737 Maxes. The previous plea deal, reached last July, was later rejected by a federal judge, who last month set a trial date for June 23 if a brand new deal is not reached.

Boeing had agreed to plead guilty to conspiring to defraud the U.S. government, pay as much as $487.2 million and install a company monitor at the corporate for 3 years.

“We’re in the method at once of going back with the DOJ and coming up with an alternate agreement,” Ortberg said throughout the hearing. “I would like this resolved as fast as anybody. We’re still in discussions and hopefully we’ll have a brand new agreement here soon.”

Asked by Sen. Maria Cantwell, the rating Democrat on the committee, whether he had a problem with having a company monitor, Ortberg replied: “I do not personally have an issue, no.”

Ortberg and other Boeing executives have recently outlined improvements across the manufacturer’s production lines, reminiscent of reducing defects and risks from so-called traveled works, or doing tasks out of sequence, in recent months, in addition to wins like a contract price greater than $20 billion to construct the US’ next generation fighter jet.

But lawmakers and regulators have maintained heightened scrutiny on the corporate, a top U.S. exporter.

“Boeing has been a fantastic American manufacturer and all of us should wish to see it thrive,” Sen. Ted Cruz, a Texas Republican and chairman of the committee, said in an announcement in February announcing the hearing. “Given Boeing’s past missteps and problems, the flying public deserves to listen to what changes are being made to rehabilitate the corporate’s tarnished repute.”

The Federal Aviation Administration last yr capped Boeing’s production of its 737 Max planes at 38 a month following the January 2024 door plug blowout. The agency plans to maintain that limit in place, though Boeing is producing below that level.

Ortberg said on the hearing Wednesday that the corporate could work as much as production rate of 38 Max planes a month and even higher sometime this yr, but said Boeing would not push it if the production line is not stable.

Acting FAA Administrator Chris Rocheleau said at a Senate hearing last week that the agency’s oversight of the corporate “extends to ongoing monitoring of Boeing’s manufacturing practices, maintenance procedures, and software updates.”

Correction: Chris Rocheleau is acting FAA administrator. An earlier version misstated his title.