Markey Commends FAA Administrator Whitaker On ‘Aggressiveness’ Of Response To Boeing Safety Crisis

3 months ago

On Thursday, Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA) questioned FAA Chief Administrator Michael Whitaker on Boeing manufacturing crisis durign a Senate Energy and Commerce Committee hearing.

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00:00Both your leadership on the no-tam and on the near-miss language that was in the FAA bill, so much appreciate that.

00:06Senator Markey.

00:08Thank you, Madam Chair.

00:10Administrator Whitaker, today I just want to thank you for the work you've been doing.

00:15I've been impressed with the speed and the aggressiveness with which the FAA has responded to Boeing's safety crisis.

00:22And I wanted to thank you for your leadership.

00:25Boeing recently presented its 90-day plan to the FAA, detailing how it would get its safety culture back on track.

00:32The plan looks extensive, but we know that Boeing's safety problems are deeper than missing bolts and poor documentation.

00:40The problem is the lack of a safety culture, a culture that was eroded by decades of profit-driven decisions.

00:47Administrator Whitaker, do you agree that Boeing's plan must have buy-in from everyone in the organization,

00:53especially the employees designing and building the planes?

00:57I do agree with that, yes, sir.

00:59I agree with you.

01:00And in that case, in drafting its 90-day plan, do you know whether Boeing consulted the unions

01:07representing the engineers and machinists doing this work?

01:11I don't have specific information on that.

01:13I believe that they have, and I know that we've had conversations to get that frontline feedback.

01:20I do know that they've had several safety stand-downs where they've heard from all of their employees,

01:25and so they have reached out to get input from them.

01:29Well, did the FAA ever indicate to Boeing that certain stakeholders,

01:33including unions representing its workers, should be involved in the plan?

01:37Yes, in the sense that that is part of a robust SMS system, so you need to have avenues for that employee, that frontline input.

01:45Well, here's what I've heard.

01:46I've heard that unions were not significantly involved in developing the plan.

01:52This doesn't make sense to me.

01:55Over and over again, Boeing's business decisions have undermined safety.

01:59These decisions have mostly been made by corporate executives, cushy con offices,

02:04without any input by the engineers and workers who historically defined Boeing's engineering and safety excellence.

02:13Now you're telling me the same people who steered Boeing off the flight path of safety are the ones developing the plan to make things right,

02:20with no input from workers, as I've been talking to the workers.

02:25It should be obvious that the workers charged with designing and building our planes should be included

02:31in developing the plan to transform Boeing's culture.

02:35Boeing does a lot of actual rocket science, but this is not rocket science.

02:41To be honest, the lack of union involvement in developing the safety plan is not surprising.

02:46It exposes Boeing's deep and longstanding hostility towards organized labor to the direct detriment to safety for all of us.

02:57And don't take my word for it, take Boeing's.

03:00I have here screenshots from an internal Boeing training document

03:05that describes unions as something to be contained and

03:10encourages managers to limit interactions between union and non-union employees.

03:17And it even has a map that shows Boeing's concerted efforts to move critical

03:22Boeing safety functions away from the union stronghold in Everett,

03:26the location where Boeing's engineering and safety excellence culture was built.

03:31Boeing treats unionization like a virus that needs to be contained.

03:36While the company is surprised when employees fear they lack protection from retaliation when they stick their neck out on safety issues,

03:44Boeing is surprised that a culture of trust has been eroded across the organization.

03:49At every turn, Boeing has undercut union's ability to protect workers from retaliation or facilitate trust between workers and management.

03:58The turbulence today should have been on their radar for years.

04:02Personally, I think the FAA has a role to play in ensuring that

04:09workers are at the decision making table to transform Boeing's safety culture.

04:14So Administrator Whitaker, as the FAA oversees the implementation of Boeing's oversight plan,

04:21can you commit to ensuring Boeing's unions have a voice at the table during the planning process?

04:27I can certainly commit that the SMS program won't work without extensive employee feedback and open channels of communication.

04:35So that will be part of the plan going forward.

04:38Thank you. Well, I think it's vital that the FAA use the full extent of its authority here to ensure Boeing's employees are involved and

04:46have a voice when it comes to reviving the company's safety culture.

04:53And I look forward to continuing to work with you at the FAA and all interested parties on those issues.

05:00And I thank you, Madam Chair, for your great leadership on all of these issues.

05:04Thank you.

05:05And while you were not in the room, the FAA Administrator did commit

05:10that a SMS system should include an input from

05:15employees that would include the FAA getting access to that information.

05:22I think that has been one of the contingent discussions there, at least with SPIA,

05:28that they want these issues to be brought up as soon as possible and to be recognized by the FAA.

05:36So I appreciate Administrator Whitaker's commitment to making sure that that happens as part of a safety management system.

05:44Just one aspect of what Senator Markey brought up.

05:47Senator Moran.

Markey Commends FAA Administrator Whitaker On ‘Aggressiveness’ Of Response To Boeing Safety Crisis

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