WASHINGTON, D.C. – At yesterday’s Senate Commerce Committee hearing, “Safety First: Restoring Boeing’s Status as a Great American Manufacturer,” Senate Republicans questioned Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg on implementation of the company’s safety and quality plan, and asked about what detailed steps the company has taken to infuse manufacturing processes with a safety-first culture.

Sen. Cruz emphasizes the need for Boeing to regain public trust

Sen. Cruz: “Can travelers trust Boeing?[...]Mr. Ortberg, what can you say here to the millions who will board a Boeing plane this year, to the millions who will put their children on the plane? I suspect every member of this panel, fly Boeing planes every single week. What can you say to the flying public as to why they should trust that a Boeing plane is safe?”

Mr. Ortberg: “Senator, the Boeing aircraft 737 MAX airplanes take off and land every two seconds of the day. Safely take off and land every two seconds of the day. I’m not denying the horrible incidents that you’ve outlined. We need to take immediate action, and we are taking action to make sure those accidents never, never happen again. My family flies on those aircraft as well. And it’s critically important that we rebuild trust. And the only way we’re going to do that is by building high quality airplanes, having the metrics out of our quality system that show that we’re making improvements. And I want everybody to know the entire Boeing team is absolutely committed to building the highest quality aircraft in the world. Air traffic is the safest mode of transportation, and we need to continue it and continue to find and learn if there’s incidences so that these don’t turn into tragic accidents in the future.”

Sen. Fischer raises Boeing’s production delays as a result of safety plan implementation

Sen. Fischer: “…What steps do you see Boeing taking to reduce the production delays, while still adhering to the plan? [...] When do you anticipate to be able to offer some confidence to the public on that?”

Mr. Ortberg: “So, Senator, just to be very clear, we won’t ramp up production if the performance isn’t indicating a stable production system. We’ll continue to work on getting to a stable system[…] I suspect it’ll be some time this year. I’m hopeful that that’s where the production rates or the production stability allows us to go[…] I’m not going to push to get the aircraft and end up having additional issues.”

Sen. Blackburn expresses concern about China outpacing American innovation

Sen. Blackburn: “I think we’re all concerned about COMAC and the Chinese Communist Party. The CEO of Ryanair recently said they were opening -- open to buying planes from COMAC. We’re all concerned about competition that would come from China and the Chinese Communist Party. So what steps are you taking to innovate and to make certain that you are competing and out-competing our foreign competitors?”

Mr. Ortberg: “We have to stay competitive. We have to invest in the future of our company. We’re investing in new versions of the MAX aircraft. We’re investing in the new largest wide-body airplane, dual-engine airplane in the history with our 777X program. And all those airplane investments are about staying ahead of the competition and making sure that, that we can compete in a global market.”

Boeing CEO explains to Sen. Young how the company utilizes AI to improve safety and manufacturing efforts

Sen. Young: “…there’s been a public loss of trust, due to systemic issues that have put lives at risk at your company[...]Relatedly, AI automation and data analytics, I keep hearing, have the potential to revolutionize production, not just in the aerospace industry, but, also, seemingly, every other facet of life, and certainly, manufacturing[…]Has Boeing integrated AI or automation to detect defects before planes are delivered to customers, and, if so, how effective has it been so far?”

Mr. Ortberg: “…we use, generally, large language models. We’re using those large language models right now to enhance our assembly instructions and our documentation to make sure that it’s clear, it’s more concise, and that will help with the overall safety and quality of the aircraft. I know we’re doing data analytics as well using AI algorithms[…] I assure you, our team is looking at how to utilize AI to do the data analytics, to find trends and predict trends and improve the overall performance of the aircraft.”

Sen. Schmitt questions how Boeing is managing its supply chain to ensure effective safety measures are implemented and the highest quality products are produced

Sen. Schmitt: “Obviously, you work with a lot of vendors and suppliers across the country. So, in light of this hearing, what are some of the things that you’re doing to ensure the highest quality and safety, and all those sorts of things?”

Mr. Ortberg: “So as a part of our safety and quality plan, that also includes our supply chain. And one of the major efforts is reducing the number of defects we’re bringing into our factory from our supply chain and reducing the number of notice of escapes that we get…We have a thousand activities underway -- or, a thousand vendor engagements underway right now to improve their overall performance and safety and quality of the deliveries from our supply chain. […] And we got more work to do there. But I do think the — getting to root cause and getting these defects out of our supply chain is just as important as getting them out of our Boeing production system.”

Watch yesterday’s hearing in its entirety HERE.

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