In the wake of a midair scare, Boeing has tapped a high-ranking naval veteran to chart a course toward enhanced safety practices. The aerospace titan confirmed that retired Navy admiral Kirkland Donald has been designated as a special adviser, tasked with shoring up the quality assurance across the company's manufacturing range.
Donald's advisory role, commissioned by Boeing CEO David Calhoun, focuses on elevating the standard of work not only within Boeing's own factories, but also at its suppliers which had come under scrutiny following the January 5 incident involving an Alaska Airlines jet, where a panel burst from the aircraft's side, as it soared above Oregon Boeing revealed these steps a day after the company conceded an uptick in quality inspections for its troubled Boeing 737 Max 9 planes, facing a grounding order from federal regulators determined to see satisfactory safety assurances.
It is "clear that we are not where we need to be," a Boeing official imparted on the heels of a review by the Federal Aviation Administration, which has put most Max 9 jets in a holding pattern, including those in the fleets of Alaska and United Airlines, as reported by KOIN. Donald comes to the table with his own deck of credentials, notably as the former director of the Navy's nuclear propulsion program for eight years and as the current chairman of shipbuilder Huntington Ingalls Industries.
The gravity of Donald's new role was underscored by a Boeing spokesperson, stating on Tuesday that the admiral will serve as a reinforcement to Calhoun's leadership in pursuit of better oversight on quality factors within Boeing's production outposts and their supplier's corners, a sentiment paralleled by the company's acknowledgement that previous practices had fallen short of the mark for safety, echoing source material from Wings Magazine.
Amid pressing safety concerns and the regulatory scrutiny that has encircled the Boeing 737 Max 9 following two catastrophic crashes and subsequent recertification, the winged colossus is banking on Donald's storied expertise to turn the tide and regain altitude in a beleaguered industry's eyes. Information regarding the advent of Donald's role was also detailed in a piece by U.S. News & World Report.
