Duckworth Presses Boeing CEO Ortberg for Being Unwilling to Categorically Refuse Self-Inspection Authority from FAA Before Oversight Issues Are Fixed
In her remarks, the Senator said prior efforts by FAA employees to delegate this safety authority back to Boeing is not just unacceptable, but a “total dereliction of duty”
[WASHINGTON, D.C.] – Today, U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL)— a member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation (CST) and Ranking Member of the CST Aviation Subcommittee—pressed Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg four times whether he would commit to neither seeking nor accepting delegation of airworthiness inspection authority—an authority that would allow the company to self-inspect its own aircraft—from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) until FAA fixed its own oversight lapses. Again and again, Mr. Ortberg dodged the question and refused to make a firm commitment. During her questioning, Duckworth highlighted how inappropriate it would be for Boeing to accept this delegation authority as the FAA continues working to implement all 16 of the Department of Transportation (DOT) Inspector General’s recommendations from an October report that found FAA’s oversight of Boeing production was “not effective.” Duckworth’s full questioning can be found on the Senator’s YouTube.
“In October, the DOT Inspector General found that the FAA’s oversight of Boeing was not only not effective, but so bad that it issued 16 separate recommendations for the FAA to fix its process,” said Duckworth. “I believe strongly that FAA must not delegate inspection authority back to Boeing until—at a minimum—FAA fixes its ineffective oversight of Boeing’s production. It’s extremely disappointing that Mr. Ortberg wouldn’t rule out accepting this delegated authority while FAA’s oversight of Boeing production is still so ineffective. Mr. Ortberg is trying to restore Boeing’s reputation, and has taken important actions to do so, but I don’t see how Boeing would improve its safety credibility by accepting authority to once again self-inspect its planes for federal compliance—while the FAA’s oversight is still broken.”
One of the most shocking findings in the DOT Inspector General’s October report was that that shortly before the Boeing door plug blowout, individuals within FAA wanted to delegate airplane airworthiness inspection authority back to Boeing without any criteria by which to assess whether Boeing could be trusted to properly carry out these inspections. This is particularly concerning because, prior to the 737 MAX crashes and production problems with the 787, the FAA allowed Boeing to self-inspect their aircraft to ensure they conformed with their FAA-approved type design. However, in the wake of the MAX crashes, it was found that Boeing had a pattern of abusing this authority and producing 737 MAX aircraft with nonfunctioning Angle of Attack Disagree alerts.
After Mr. Ortberg refused to commit that he would not accept the delegation of such an authority when Duckworth asked a fourth time, Duckworth replied: “You have a track record of abusing self-inspecting authority and you’ve already said that you and senior Board managers would make more money if you can put more aircraft out. It is not appropriate at this time for you to accept the delegation of that authority if it is offered to you by the FAA before the FAA has met all 16 of the IG recommendations on how to fix the inspection system.”
Duckworth has long pushed for improved federal oversight of Boeing. Last year, she urged then-FAA Administrator Whitaker to make sure the FAA requires transparency and accountability as it oversees Boeing’s Safety and Quality Plan. Duckworth also implored FAA to scrutinize Boeing’s bad behavior and use its civil enforcement authority more often, when appropriate, and also called on the agency to review Boeing’s disturbing pattern of failing to disclose critical safety information about 737 MAX planes to pilots.
Last year, Duckworth also called on FAA to reject a petition by Boeing for a safety exemption to allow the 737 MAX 7 to be certified to fly despite having another known safety defect that has not yet been fixed. The Senator subsequently met with then-Boeing CEO David Calhoun and urged him to withdraw the company’s petition, which the company did just days later, crediting Duckworth’s reasoning for the decision.
Duckworth last year helped author the landmark bipartisan FAA reauthorization that was signed into law to extend the FAA’s funding and authorities through Fiscal Year 2028. The reauthorization included several of her provisions to improve consumer safety, expand the aviation workforce and enhance protections for travelers with disabilities. Duckworth has noted that while it was a tremendous victory for the flying public, more needs to be done to address the recent issues that have come to light with Boeing since a door plug blew out of an Alaska Airlines flight mid-flight.
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