802 Boeing Safety and Quality Plan
We take a look at the Boeing Safety and Quality Plan, the NTSB recommendations after the Southwest/FedEx near miss, the suspension of some ATC staff in India, Essential Air Service contracts, BARK Air\u2019s lawsuit over airport-use restrictions, the sale of a B-17, and the NTSB inspection of the USAirways flight 1549 engines.\n\n\n\nAviation News\n\n\n\nBoeing Safety & Quality Plan\n\n\n\nBoeing had 90 days to deliver a comprehensive plan to the FAA to improve the company\u2019s safety management and quality assurance, including in the supply chain. We look at The Boeing Product Safety and Quality Plan Executive Summary [PDF, 11 pages.]\n\n\n\nThe Plan includes the containment and mitigation actions Boeing took immediately after the accident. It also introduces Boeing\u2019s new Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) of production system health and associated control limits for each KPI. Boeing intends that these metrics will provide \u201ca continuous assessment of factory health and provide early warning of emerging quality and safety risks. They also will facilitate tracking of Boeing\u2019s improvement under the Product Safety and Quality Plan and guide decisions about system readiness for rate increases.\u201d\n\n\n\nBoeing's Immediate Containment and Mitigation\n\n\n\nImprovements directed at the Boeing production system:\n\n\n\nAdmiral Kirkland Donald\n\n\n\n\nRevised the build plans, training, maintenance planning, aircraft manual documentation, removal requirements and inspection criteria for the Mid-Exit Door (MED) plug;\n\n\n\nInstituted additional controls to prevent defects in the MED plug and similar structures and assemblies;\n\n\n\nAdded conformance inspections to nine critical build points;\n\n\n\nProcessed fleet and production inspection findings through Boeing\u2019s SMS and Quality Management System (QMS);\n\n\n\nPublished alerts on removals and rework, signed by all factory employees;\n\n\n\nHosted representatives from 737 airline customers to review Boeing\u2019s production and quality procedures, and to provide feedback;\n\n\n\nAppointed a recognized safety and quality leader, Admiral Kirkland Donald, to independently assess Boeing\u2019s production system; and\n\n\n\nImplemented a revised management and salaried compensation model focused on quality and safety, with aligned key performance indicators across all programs.\n\n\n\n\nImprovements directed at the Boeing supply chain:\n\n\n\n\nInstituted additional controls at Spirit to prevent defects in the MED plug and similar structures and assemblies;\n\n\n\nAdded new inspections at Spirit, as well as pre-shipment approval requirements on fuselages prior to shipment to Boeing;\n\n\n\nAdded competency assessments for all supplier mechanics doing structural work at Boeing sites; and\n\n\n\nIssued supplier bulletins to strengthen focus on conformance and reduce the risks of defects being shipped.\n\n\n\n\nKey Performance Indicators\n\n\n\nA significant component of the Product Safety and Quality Plan is the identification of six critical, safety-focused production health KPIs:\n\n\n\n\nEmployee Proficiency (measures share of employees currently staffed to commercial programs who are proficient);\n\n\n\nNotice of Escape (NoE) Rework Hours (measures rework due to Fabrication and supplier-provided escapes to Final Assembly);\n\n\n\nSupplier Shortages (measures Fabrication and supplier shortages/day);\n\n\n\nRework Hours per airplane (measures total rework hours per airplane in Final Assembly);\n\n\n\nTravelers at Factory Rollout (measures jobs traveling from Final Assembly); and\n\n\n\nTicketing Performance (measures average escapes per ticketed airplane).\n\n\n\n\nEach KPI also has associated control limits and defined criteria that will trigger corrective action and SMS risk monitoring.\n\n\n\nProduct Safety and Quality Plan Attention Areas\n\n\n\nSafety Management System three main initiatives:\xa0\n\n\n\n\nStreamlining employee reporting channels; [Submissions are up 500%]\n\n\n\nAddressing traveled work risk; [implemented a \u201cmove ready\u201d process\u2014737 airplanes may not move to the next factory position until identified build milestones are co...