The CEO of Boeing, Kelly Ortberg, testifies to a trade committee of the Senate, Sciences and Transport, hearing about Boeing’s commitment to respond to security problems following an outdoor emergency of January 2024 involving a new 737 Max, on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, United States, April 2, 2025.
Ken Cedeno | Reuters
Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg described legislators on business progress on Wednesday on the improvement of its manufacturing and security standards after years of crisis in its commercial and defense units, including an outdoor door plug in 2024 almost in 2024 on one of its planes that left the Boeing factory without key bols installed.
Ortberg, who took the first job in Boeing in August, faced questions from the Senate Commerce Committee on how the company will ensure that it does not repeat past accidents or manufacturing defects.
Senator Ted Cruz, R.-Texas, chairman of the committee, said he wanted Boeing to succeed and invited Boeing managers and factory workers to report on the company’s recovery plan. “Consider my open door,” he said.
Ortberg admitted that the company had even more to do.
“Boeing has made serious false steps in recent years – and it is unacceptable. In response, we have made radical changes to the people, the processes and the overall structure of our company,” said Ortberg as a testimony to the Senate trade committee. “Although there is still work in front of us, these deep changes are supported by the deep commitment of all of us to the safety of our products and services.”
Ortberg and other Boeing leaders have described improvements through the manufacturer’s production lines in recent months, as well as victories as a contract worth more than $ 20 billion to build the fighter of the next generation of the United States. But legislators and regulators have maintained a meticulous examination of the company, a high -level American exporter.
“Boeing was a large American manufacturer and we all shoULD wants to see him prosper, “said Senator Ted Cruz, a Texas Republican and Chairman of the Committee, in a statement in February announcing the hearing.” Given the faux pas and Boeing problems, the flying public deserves to hear what changes are made to the rehabilitation of the company’s tarnished reputation. “”
Last year, the Federal Aviation Administration closed the production of Boeing of its 737 Max aircraft at 38 years a month after the rack rash of January 2024. The agency plans to maintain this limit in place, although Boeing produced below this level.
Ortberg said at the hearing on Wednesday that the company could reach a production rate of 38 max aircraft per month this year, but Boeing would not push it if the production line was not stable.
The acting administrator of the FAA, Chris Rocheleau, said during an audience in the Senate last week that the agency’s surveillance on the company “extends to continuous monitoring of Boeing manufacturing practices, maintenance procedures and software updates”.
Correction: Chris Rocheleau is administrator of the FAA Act. An earlier version has destroyed its title.