Boeing employees offer glimpse of workplace culture with NTSB investigation
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) unveiled on Tuesday testimonies from Boeing employees that indicated wider workplace culture issues at the aerospace company.
The testimonies were unveiled during an NTSB investigation into the January incident involving a Boeing 737 MAX 9 aircraft that had its door plug blown out mid-flight.
NTSB investigators questioned Boeing personnel over safety issues at the organisation and what it might mean for passengers, CNN reported.
One of the employees, identified as "Assembler Installer Doors B,” said there was too much workload at Boeing.
"As far as the workload, I feel like we were definitely trying to put out too much product, right? That's how mistakes are made. People try to work too fast. I mean, I can't speak for anybody else, but we were busy. We were working a lot," the employee said as quoted by CNN.
Another employee, identified as a Door Master Lead, added that many planes needed rework during assembly due to discovered problems.
He added that there was no special training offered to open, close, or remove a door plug versus a regular door, and that they were "put in uncharted waters."
A Boeing team captain at the 737 factor also told investigators that they have a lot of turnover “because this can be a stressful job.”
"What the company wants and what we have the skills and capabilities to perform at the time — sometimes that doesn't coincide, and so some people get disgruntled; they feel like they're being overworked; they feel like, you know, that we might be getting taken advantage of."
The NTSB previously attributed the Boeing 737 MAX incident in January to four missing bolts that were supposed to hold the door plug in place.
Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun previously said the company is taking accountability for the incident "what final conclusions are reached."
"An event like this must not happen on an airplane that leaves our factory. We simply must do better for our customers and their passengers," the CEO said in a statement.
