In an exclusive interview with KIRO 7, a Boeing employee at the Everett Factory shares his concerns over non-compliance issues and what he calls lax management.
“It pains me to even be at this point,” the employee said.
KIRO 7 is protecting the employee’s identity because he fears for his job and retribution.
“It hurts because I know Boeing could be significantly better,” he said.
The employee said he decided to reach out to KIRO 7 after what happened on Alaska Airlines flight 1282 on Jan. 5. A door plug blew off midflight leaving a gaping hole in the side of the plane.
“January 5th that’s one, another is being told by management to do something and to my core I could not do that. It had to be taken care of because I will not ship to, or allow to ship to our customer, in this case is Renton, a faulty product,” he said. “Being told to send a product no matter what that product is to a customer knowing that it is not right to ship it or send it to the customer in the manner that we are being told, is wrong.”
He told KIRO 7 that non-compliance is a regular thing at the plant. He said policies and procedures are ignored in the name of efficiency.
“You gotta send it right the first time we can’t, we can’t like automobile manufacturers, there are quality issues there, but an airplane can’t just pull off to the side of the road when something goes wrong,” he said.
The employee shared with KIRO 7 a photo of the plant where a sign hangs that reads, “Just ship it.”
“Everybody that walks through the main aisle sees that,” he said. “If by chance something is caught it’s caught by chance not by design like those inserts, that was by chance it was caught and not by design.”
The employee told KIRO 7 that he has gone through multiple channels to voice his concerns and report the ongoing issues but things have not changed.
“That’s what the management does, they, all they want to do is check their boxes and they don’t care about anything else,” he said. “I love what I do, the policies the rules, need to be enforced.”
“I’m just one person very low on the totem pole and if I can see it, management should be able to see it and correct it,” he continued.
KIRO 7 reached out to Boeing regarding these allegations. They provided a statement:
Boeing takes very seriously any allegation of improper work or unethical behavior. We continuously encourage employees to report concerns as our priority is to ensure the safety of our airplanes and the flying public. Since KIRO-TV contacted us Wednesday afternoon with general information, we have been working to assess these claims and will take any necessary action to ensure our airplanes meet all requirements. Boeing employees can anonymously report concerns through our Speak Up portal or directly to the FAA at hotline.faa.gov.
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