According to an SEC filing, Southwest is removing Boeing 737 MAX jets from its schedule, now adding more doubt into whether Boeing can get these planes back in the air.
A former Boeing manager who said he warned the airplane maker about problems at the company’s production facility in a Seattle suburb will testify before Congress on Wednesday, according to multiple reports.
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| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BA | BOEING COMPANY | 351.21 | -2.88 | -0.81% |
Ed Pierson, a former senior manager at Boeing, warned the company about potential safety flaws with the 737 Max and that employees at the Renton, Washington plant – where the plane is produced – were overworked and tired, and making mistakes, the New York Times reported Monday. Pierson’s warning came four months prior to a Lion Air Max jet crash off the coast of Indonesia killing 189 people.
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“Frankly right now all my internal warning bells are going off,” Pierson said in a June 2018 email that was sent to the leader of the 737 program, the Times reported. “And for the first time in my life, I’m sorry to say that I’m hesitant about putting my family on a Boeing airplane.”
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Pierson also said that planes were not being built on time due to a myriad of issues, including damaged tools and missing parts, according to the Times’ report. The outlet also reported that Boeing executives pressured workers to finish aircraft even without proper staffing.
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The former manager also urged Boeing executives and later the Federal Aviation Administration and NTSB to examine conditions at the Renton facility, according to emails obtained by NBC News.
Pierson also recommended that the aerospace giant temporarily shut down the production line, which the company ignored, according to NBC.
“I cried a lot,” Pierson told NBC. “I’m mad at myself because I felt like I could have done more.”
Boeing did not immediately respond to FOX Business’ request for comment.
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Months after the Lion Air crash, another Max jet, operated by Ethiopian Airlines, crashed killing 157 people.
Boeing has begun to pay the victims in the deadly crashes.
