- A union leader told the WSJ that a Boeing supplier pressures workers to get the job done fast.
- And that this may be leading to issues with quality control.
- Supplier Spirit AeroSystems builds the fuselages and other parts of Boeing planes.
A key Boeing supplier is under scrutiny in the wake of the Alaska Airlines blowout.
Spirit AeroSystems is a Kansas-based company that builds the fuselages and other parts of Boeing planes — including the door plug of 737 Max 9 jets that were involved in the Alaska Airlines blowout earlier this month.
The Federal Aviation Administration announced a formal investigation into Boeing last Thursday, and will audit the 737 Max 9 production line and its suppliers.
Cornell Beard, president of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers chapter which represents workers at Spirit's Wichita factory, told The Wall Street Journal that problems with quality control could be caused by pressure on employees to work at pace.
"We have planes all over the world that have issues that nobody has found because of the pressure Spirit has put on employees to get the job done so fast," he said.
After the FAA grounded the 737 Max 9, Alaska Airlines and United Airlines found loose bolts during the initial inspections.
When the door plug of Alaska Airlines flight 1282 was recovered, investigators found four bolts were missing — and weren't sure they were ever installed. The National Transportation Safety Board is conducting further tests on the door to determine how it came loose.
Joshua Dean, a former Spirit quality auditor, told the Journal he was fired after flagging wrongly drilled holes in fuselages.
"It is known at Spirit that if you make too much noise and cause too much trouble, you will be moved," he said. "It doesn't mean you completely disregard stuff, but they don't want you to find everything and write it up."
Boeing announced Monday new measures to improve its quality control system. That includes an additional layer of inspections through the build process at Boeing and Spirit's installation of the mid-exit door plug.
Spirit did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider, sent outside US working hours.
In a statement last week, it said: "As a company, we remain focused on the quality of each aircraft structure that leaves our facilities."
