The day before Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg was to appear before Congress, U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell raised “critical concerns” about a program that allows the aircraft manufacturer to certify its own work.

That program — called Organization Designation Authorization, or ODA — has been heavily scrutinized over the last several years, and has been portrayed as allowing Boeing too much control of its own oversight. Critics say the Federal Aviation Administration, the regulatory agency tasked with overseeing quality and safety of airplane manufacturers like Boeing, has been too lax with its mandate.

Cantwell, D-Washington, sent a letter Tuesday to the FAA’s acting administrator Chris Rocheleau urging the agency to address those concerns before deciding next month whether to renew Boeing’s authorization.

The senator plans to question Ortberg about the ODA program, as well as other concerns about safety and quality practices at the company, during a hearing Wednesday before the Senate Committee on Commerce, Transportation and Science. It will be Ortberg’s first appearance before Congress since taking over as CEO of Boeing in August and his chance to tell lawmakers how the company has improved following a harrowing incident last year when a panel blew off a Boeing 737 Max plane midflight.

Ortberg planned to acknowledge that Boeing has made “serious missteps in recent years,” according to a copy of his testimony shared Tuesday, referring to the panel blowout and two deadly Max crashes in 2018 and 2019. Those mistakes are “unacceptable,” he will say.

But even while admitting that there is “still work ahead of us,” Ortberg’s prepared remarks expressed optimism about the changes Boeing has already made. Those range from slowing production to increasing employee training to implementing safety systems.

“No one is more committed to turning our company around than our team,” Ortberg’s remarks read. “Working together, we are focused on connecting the world, protecting our freedoms and supporting our economy.”

Called to Congress

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Transportation and Science, scheduled the hearing to “examine steps Boeing has taken” to address safety and production concerns after the panel blowout in January 2024.

On that flight, Alaska Airlines Flight 1282, a panel known as a door plug blew off shortly after takeoff, leaving a gaping hole in the side of the Boeing 737 Max 9. Investigators later determined that four bolts meant to hold the panel in place had not been reinstalled properly after mechanics worked on the plane in Boeing’s Renton factory.

In the 16 months since the panel blowout, Boeing ousted its then-CEO Dave Calhoun and outlined a quality and safety plan with key metrics to guide operations. Boeing is still under a production cap put in place by the FAA following the blowout.

“Boeing has been a great American manufacturer and all of us should want to see it thrive,” Cruz said in a February statement when he called the hearing. “Given Boeing’s past missteps and problems, the flying public deserves to hear what changes are being made to rehabilitate the company’s tarnished reputation.”

Boeing was already under regulatory scrutiny before the panel blowout after two 737 Max 8 planes crashed six years ago, killing 346 people. An error with a new software system on the Max caused those planes to nosedive. The panel blowout years later reignited concerns about Boeing’s commitment to quality and safety after the tragic crashes rattled the flying public, lawmakers and safety regulators.

In his prepared testimony, Ortberg reiterated much of what Boeing has focused on before as it works to restore trust in the company and reassure regulators that its planes are safe.

He noted that Boeing has been working with the FAA on implementing recommendations from an expert review panel that was convened as a result of the Max crashes and a part of legislation from 2020 designed to improve aircraft safety.

Concerns over self-certification

The ODA program, started in 2009, gives some Boeing employees authorization to perform certain FAA tasks, like issuing airworthiness certificates or making engineering determinations for some airplane parts. It was meant to ease the regulator’s workload and lead to more standard oversight across organizations.

But in Boeing’s case, it has led to accusations of “undue pressure” on those Boeing employees performing certifications on behalf of the regulators.

After the Max crashes, the FAA retained its authority to issue airworthiness certificates for the 737 and 787.

In 2022, the FAA extended Boeing’s ODA program for just three years, rather than the standard five, because it wanted to see “necessary improvements,” Cantwell wrote in her letter Tuesday.

At the end of those three years, the agency planned to review improvements related to interference, independence, timely implementation of needed changes and self-audits. Ian Won, the former manager of the FAA’s Boeing Aviation Safety Oversight Office wrote at the time that “three years should provide ample time for these improvement activities to be completed.”

But an October report from the Department of Transportation’s Inspector General renewed concerns about the ODA program and FAA’s oversight of the company.

It found that the FAA had requested that Boeing’s ODA resume issuing final airworthiness certificates for the 737 and 787 production lines in August 2023, even though FAA data showed a decline in production quality during that time, Cantwell wrote.

That request occurred around the same time the Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 fuselage was moving through Boeing’s production line, starting first at supplier Spirit AeroSystems in Wichita, Kan., before moving to Boeing’s Renton factory.

Boeing declined to comment on Cantwell’s letter or its ODA program. The FAA said Tuesday it would respond directly to the senator.

Cantwell asked the agency to provide an analysis of whether Boeing had “satisfied” the improvements regulators sought in 2022 before making a decision on whether the company could certify its own work. Boeing’s ODA is set for renewal in May.

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