A wave of retirements means the people putting Boeing planes together are younger and less experienced
After a piece of fuselage fell off a Boeing $BA 737 Max 9 earlier this year, the company has been working harder to strengthen its safety culture through training. The Wall Street Journal reports that a wave of pandemic-era retirements among its workforce meant that the people putting planes together were younger and less experienced in the field, with executives saying that led to production problems.
Some of those workers are trying hard to appreciate the importance of their jobs. “This isn’t a car that’s going to carry one or two people,” an unnamed worker told the newspaper. “We know if we mess up, we could potentially mess up an airplane.” Boeing did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
After the fuselage incident, Boeing has been dealing with a lot of scrutiny from the federal government and investors. The Federal Aviation Administration said that an action plan recently submitted to it by the company will not lead to a reduction in that scrutiny. Boeing stock is down nearly 26% for the year.
A report released by Michael Delaney, Boeing’s chief aerospace safety officer, stressed how hard the company is trying to make things better.
“The safety of our products starts with quality work across our design, manufacturing and support operations,” he said in the report’s introduction. “The 737-9 accident in January of this year was a stark reminder of this inseparable link, and we have work to do to ensure that every Boeing employee understands that vital connection — and our role in identifying hazards and issues that must be addressed.”
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