(Washington) The boss of Boeing’s commercial aircraft branch apologized Friday evening in a message to employees for the latest setbacks of the American manufacturer, at a time when 737 MAX 9s are returning to the air.
“We are truly sorry for the significant disruption and frustration for our customers,” Stan Deal said in a message to his employees sent by Boeing to the press.
A few hours earlier, an Alaska Airlines 737 MAX 9 made its first commercial flight since the flight suspension decided by the American regulator (FAA) following the incident on January 5.
That day, a blocked cabin door on an Alaska Airlines plane came loose in flight.
Since the suspension of flights decided by the FAA, “our objective was to help our customers resume their activity,” said the boss of the commercial aircraft branch in his message to his teams.
From now on, “our long-term objective is to improve quality in order to regain the confidence of our customers, our regulator and the people who fly,” added Stan Deal. “Frankly, we disappointed them, we let them down,” he even declared before apologizing.
Some 10,000 Boeing employees stopped work on the 737 MAX production line near Seattle on Thursday to “refocus on safety and discuss ways to improve our practices,” according to Mr. Deal.
The latest incident on the Alaska Airlines flight, following other production problems in recent months, has prompted the FAA and the plane maker itself to dissect its quality control process, and an independent person has been appointed to lead an audit.