Four months into her demanding new role as interim president and CEO of Boeing Commerical Airplanes, Stephanie Pope has taken strength from extensive feedback from employees as they strive to roll out the safety and quality plan critical to restoring the airframer’s bruised reputation. On the eve of this year’s Farnborough Airshow, she told a Presidents Panel briefing in London that the input from colleagues is what gives her confidence they can achieve their goals in terms of simplifying procedures, reducing defects, and improving build plans, while at the same time embedding a profound safety culture throughout the company.
“It’s all about culture, and employees know they have a responsibility to speak up if they see something that’s wrong. It’s all about empowerment and accountability,” Pope told reporters. She also serves as chief operating officer of The Boeing Company.
"Our customers realize this is transformational change and we have to also be able to have predictable deliveries at scale," she added. "I'm clear that it isn't safety and quality versus the schedule. We have to do it all; those items aren't competing."
At the same time, Boeing is also focused on restoring production rates for both the 737 and 787, which it had to slow when it initiated the FAA-mandated safety and quality plan. Pope reported that the manufacturing flow on the 737 lines is improving as it seeks to get rates back to 38 units per month, while it still strives to get 787 output back above five aircraft per month.
777X Starts Certification Test Flights
Looking further ahead, Boeing started certification flight testing its new 777X twinjet, after the FAA last week issued the type inspection authorization it needs. Pope said the company has learned a lot about regulatory changes that will affect the process of bringing the new widebody to market.
Away from the limelight of the Farnborough show, BCA’s airline customers continue to converge on its Seattle hub, where Pope said they are spending hours reviewing the details of the safety and quality plan and how it will impact them. “This industry is safe because we make mistakes and learn from them,” she concluded. “Some of our customers have shared their own stories with us, but that doesn’t take away the reality that we’ve disappointed them.”
On the military side of Boeing’s business, Ted Colbert, president and CEO of Boeing Defense, Space & Security, acknowledged headaches inflicted by problems with some large fixed-price development programs, including the KC-46 Pegasus tanker and the T-7A. “This quarter you will see that we continue to be significantly challenged on these,” he told the briefing. “It will be like what we saw in the third quarter of last year and, once again, we’ll get through it by investing in our workforce.”