• Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • About Us
  • Supplier Directory
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • Logout
  • My Profile

  • CORONAVIRUS
  • LOGISTICS
    • Air Cargo
    • All Logistics
    • Express/Small Shipments
    • Facility Location Planning
    • Freight Forwarding/Customs Brokerage
    • Global Gateways
    • Global Logistics
    • Last Mile Delivery
    • Logistics Outsourcing
    • LTL/Truckload Services
    • Ocean Transportation
    • Rail & Intermodal
    • Reverse Logistics
    • Service Parts Management
    • Transportation & Distribution
  • TECHNOLOGY
    • All Technology
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • Cloud & On-Demand Systems
    • Data Management (Big Data/IoT/Blockchain)
    • ERP & Enterprise Systems
    • Forecasting & Demand Planning
    • Global Trade Management
    • Inventory Planning/ Optimization
    • Product Lifecycle Management
    • Sales & Operations Planning
    • SC Finance & Revenue Management
    • SC Planning & Optimization
    • Sourcing/Procurement/SRM
    • Supply Chain Visibility
    • Transportation Management
  • GENERAL SCM
    • Business Strategy Alignment
    • Education & Professional Development
    • Global Supply Chain Management
    • Global Trade & Economics
    • HR & Labor Management
    • Quality & Metrics
    • Regulation & Compliance
    • SC Security & Risk Mgmt
    • Sustainability & Corporate Social Responsibility
  • WAREHOUSING
    • All Warehouse Services
    • Conveyors & Sortation
    • Lift Trucks & AGVs
    • Order Fulfillment
    • Packaging
    • RFID, Barcode, Mobility & Voice
    • Robotics
    • Warehouse Management Systems
  • INDUSTRIES
    • Aerospace & Defense
    • Apparel
    • Automotive
    • Chemicals & Energy
    • Consumer Packaged Goods
    • E-Commerce/Omni-Channel
    • Food & Beverage
    • Healthcare
    • High-Tech/Electronics
    • Industrial Manufacturing
    • Pharmaceutical/Biotech
    • Retail
  • REGIONS
    • Asia Pacific
    • Canada
    • China
    • Europe
    • Latin America
    • Middle East/Africa
    • North America
  • THINK TANK
  • PODCASTS
  • VIDEOS
  • WHITEPAPERS
Home » Boeing Dreamliner Plant Is `Plagued by Shoddy Production,' Report Says

Boeing Dreamliner Plant Is `Plagued by Shoddy Production,' Report Says

Boeing Dreamliner Plant Is `Plagued by Shoddy Production,' Report Says
April 22, 2019
Bloomberg

Boeing Co.’s factory in North Charleston, S.C., one of two plants that produces the 787 Dreamliner, has faced problems with production and oversight that create a safety threat, the New York Times reported.

The Times cited a review of internal emails, corporate documents and federal records, as well as interviews with more than a dozen current and former employees.

Faulty parts have been installed in some of the planes, and metal shavings were often left inside the jets. A technician at the plant, Joseph Clayton, said he routinely found debris dangerously close to wiring beneath cockpits.

Brad Zaback, Boeing South Carolina’s site leader, disputed the report in an email to his team, saying the manufacturing operations are healthy and it’s performing strongly based on its quality metrics. The newspaper also declined Boeing’s invitation to visit that site, he said.

The report “paints a skewed and inaccurate picture of the program and of our team here at Boeing South Carolina,” he said. “This article features distorted information, rehashing old stories and rumors that have long ago been put to rest.”

John Barnett, a former quality manager who retired in 2017 after almost three decades at Boeing, said he found clusters of metal slivers hanging over the wiring that commands flight controls. A U.S. Federal Aviation Administration spokesman, Lynn Lunsford, said the agency inspected several planes that Boeing had certified as free of such debris and found the same metal slivers.

Less than a month after the crash of an Ethiopian Airlines 737 Max jet on March 10, which came five months after another Boeing 737 Max crashed in Indonesia, Boeing called North Charleston employees to a meeting and told them customers were finding random objects in new planes.

In 2014, Qatar Airways stopped taking 787 Dreamliners from North Charleston after complaining workers had damaged plane exteriors. The airline’s chief executive officer chastised the North Charleston workers, saying they weren’t being transparent about the length or cause of the delays. Qatar Airways has since only taken Dreamliners built in Everett, Washington. Qatar said in a statement to the New York Times it "continues to be a long-term supporter of Boeing and has full confidence in all its aircraft and manufacturing facilities."

Boeing’s head of commercial airplanes, Kevin McAllister, defended the South Carolina team and said they were producing the highest levels of quality. “I am proud of our teams’ exceptional commitment to quality and stand behind the work they do each and every day," McAllister said.

The newspaper’s report comes as Boeing is close to submitting its software fix linked with the two fatal 737 Max accidents. Once Boeing’s proposed fix is finalized, it will be reviewed by U.S. regulators. The FAA’s testing could go beyond June.

RELATED CONTENT

RELATED VIDEOS

Logistics Quality & Metrics Regulation & Compliance SC Security & Risk Mgmt Aerospace & Defense Industrial Manufacturing North America
KEYWORDS Aerospace & Defense Industrial Manufacturing North America Quality & Metrics Regulation & Compliance SC Security & Risk Mgmt
  • Related Articles

    Boeing Says U.S.-China Trade Spat Is a Concern for Aerospace World

    Boeing Is Delaying America’s Return to Space, NASA Says

    Will Plans to Expand Dreamliner Production Take a Nosedive?

Bloomberg

As Retail Sales Improved, Inventories Rose Less in February Than Expected

More from this author

Wake up to Coronavirus Updates and the latest Supply Chain News!

Subscribe to our Daily Newsletter

Timely, incisive articles delivered directly to your inbox.

Popular Stories

  • Coronavirus-watch-Armada

    Virus Update: Biden Unveils National Strategy; Pfizer Says It’s Willing to Sell Vaccine to States

    Coronavirus
  • Car Industry

    A Year of Poor Planning Led to Carmakers’ Massive Chip Shortage

    Technology
  • Can Employers Require Employees to Get the COVID-19 Vaccine? Part 1

    Watch: Can Employers Require Employees to Get the COVID-19 Vaccine? Part 1

    Coronavirus
  • U.S. Vaccine Rollout Hindered by Faulty Coordination, Messaging

    WHO Fumes at Western Drugmakers As China Fills Vaccine Void

    Coronavirus
  • COVID-19 Vaccine

    Vaccine Disparities Raise Alarm as COVID-19 Variants Multiply

    Coronavirus

Digital Edition

Scb home issue 27

2020 Supply Chain Innovator of the Year

VIEW THE LATEST ISSUE

Case Studies

  • LSP Saves Customer $1.5 Million a Year With MPO Global Inbound Management

  • Auto Supplier Wows Key Client Using riskmethods Supply Chain Savvy

  • Integrating Shipping and Compliance Saves Conglomerate Millions

  • How a Consumer Goods Giant Upped Its On-Time Delivery Performance

  • LSP Wows Global Client, Quickly Advances to Become End-to-End Provider

Visit Our Sponsors

6 River Systems ArcBest Armada
aThingz BluJay Burris Logistics
DSC Logistics DCSA (Digital Container Shipping Association) DHL Resilience360
Genpact GEP Honeywell Intelligrated
Infor Logility Magnitude Software
MPO Old Dominion Oliver Wight
OpenSky Ports America Purolator
QAD Precision Red Classic Riskmethods
TGW Systems Transportation Insights Watson Land Company
Westfalia Technologies Workjam Yang Ming
  • More From SCB
    • Featured Content
    • Video Library
    • Think Tank Blog
    • SupplyChainBrain Podcast
    • Whitepapers
    • Webinars
  • Digital Offerings
    • Digital Issue
    • Subscribe
    • Manage Your Subscription
    • Newsletters
  • Resources
    • Events Calendar
    • SCB's Great Supply Chain Partners
    • Supplier Directory
    • Case Study Showcase
    • Supply Chain Innovation Awards
    • 100 Great Partners Form
  • SCB Corporate
    • Advertise on SCB.COM
    • About Us
    • Privacy Policy
    • Contact Us
    • Data Sharing Opt-Out

All content copyright © 2016 - 2018 Keller International Publishing Corp All rights reserved. No reproduction, transmission or display is permitted without the written permissions of Keller International Publishing Corp

Design, CMS, Hosting & Web Development :: ePublishing