The new Secretary of the US Department of Transportation, Sean Duffy, has asked Boeing CEO and President Kelly Ortberg to travel to Washington for an urgent meeting to review the company’s efforts to address quality and safety concerns. In a social media post yesterday, February 13, 2025, Duffy stressed the need for a full report on the situation, noting that this meeting is the first step in addressing the issues that have emerged in the industry.

Duffy, appointed by President Donald Trump, announced that after receiving a “full account” from Ortberg, who took over the company in August 2024, following the departure of his predecessor Dave Calhoun, he intends to personally visit Boeing facilities to see first-hand the initiatives implemented to ensure compliance with the highest safety standards.

The initiative also aims to answer a series of questions arising from a series of accidents and incidents that have affected the aviation sector, especially civil, in recent months. It all started after a serious incident on January 5, 2024, when a component (more precisely one of the emergency doors) detached in flight at an altitude of 16,000 feet, from an Alaska Airlines B-737 MAX aircraft (see AVIONEWS 1, 2, 3, 4); the entire fleet was temporarily grounded, triggering an investigation conducted by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). An audit, concluded in March 2024, had highlighted multiple non-conformities in quality controls during Boeing's production process, with specific critical issues in the management of parts, storage and final control of the product.

In response to these findings, the FAA took a tough approach, increasing its level of oversight and limiting monthly production of the -737 MAX to 38 units. After taking office, Duffy pledged to maintain this production cap, announcing his intention to lead the industry into what he called a “new era of transportation", based on uncompromising safety and quality standards.

Authoritative international sources and official FAA press releases show how the situation is constantly monitored, reiterating the importance of transparently verifying the corrective measures that Boeing must adopt to restore the confidence of operators and passengers. Duffy, therefore, prepares to raise fundamental questions: what is the current state of Boeing production and how long will it take to return to pre-January 2024 levels, while ensuring maximum safety and quality of the aircraft?