Boeing hit with whistleblower allegations, adding to safety concerns

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is investigating a Boeing whistleblower’s claims that the company dismissed safety and quality concerns in the production of the planemaker’s 787 and 777 jets, an agency spokesperson said on Tuesday.
The planemaker has been grappling with a full-blown safety crisis that has undermined its reputation following a Jan. 5 mid-air panel blowout on a 737 MAX plane. It has undergone a management shakeup, U.S. regulators have put curbs on its production, and deliveries fell by half in March.
Boeing engineer Sam Salehpour’s allegations stem from work on the company’s widebody 787 and 777 jets. His attorneys said, he said he faced retaliation, such as threats and exclusion from meetings, after he identified engineering problems that affected the structural integrity of the jets, and claimed Boeing employed shortcuts to reduce bottlenecks during 787 assembly.
Boeing halted deliveries of the 787 widebody jet for more than a year until August 2022 as the FAA investigated quality problems and manufacturing flaws.