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FAA's Whitaker emphasizes long-term safety culture reforms

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Congress holds two days of hearings on Boeing ( BA )

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Senate panel takes up Boeing's ( BA ) safety turnaround efforts

on

Wednesday

(Adds Boeing declining comment, share price, more comments from

Whitaker)

By David Shepardson

WASHINGTON, Sept 24 (Reuters) - The head of the Federal

Aviation Administration told a U.S. House subcommittee on

Tuesday that safety culture improvements at Boeing ( BA ) may

take three to five years to complete.

"It is not a six-month program - it is a three-year to

five-year program," FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker said at a

two-hour hearing, adding he has spoken to Boeing ( BA ) CEO Kelly

Ortberg and the company's board of directors about the need for

safety culture reforms.

He said Boeing ( BA ) has made significant improvement in the

short term. "On culture it is a long-term project .... There is

progress but they are not where they need to be."

Congress is holding two days of hearings on Boeing ( BA ) and the

company's safety turnaround efforts with a Senate panel taking

up the issue on Wednesday.

In June, Whitaker said the agency was "too hands off" in

oversight of Boeing ( BA ) before the January mid-air emergency in a

new Alaska Airlines 737 MAX 9 and faulted its prior

audits. Boeing ( BA ) faces Justice Department and FAA probes into the

Alaska incident.

Boeing ( BA ) has no choice but to make improvements, Whitaker

said.

"There has to be culture change or they won't be able to

go back to producing aircraft at the level they want," Whitaker

said, adding the planemaker plans to hold a new safety training

program.

Boeing ( BA ) declined to comment on Whitaker's remarks. Boeing ( BA )

shares, which are down 38% this year, fell 0.3% on Tuesday.

Whitaker, who has said the agency has permanently

boosted use of in-person inspectors at Boeing ( BA ), in January barred

the planemaker from raising production of its best-selling 737

MAX until it makes quality and safety improvements.

That cap, Whitaker said on Tuesday, "really gives us the

leverage we need to make sure these changes happen."

In July, Boeing ( BA ) agreed to plead guilty to a criminal fraud

conspiracy charge and pay at least $243.6 million after

breaching a 2021 Justice Department agreement.

The planemaker also agreed to spend at least $455 million to

boost safety and compliance programs, overseen by an independent

monitor for three years.

U.S. lawmakers expressed frustration with Boeing ( BA ) after

hundreds died in fatal crashes on 737 MAX planes in 2018 and

2019.

"We don't want Airbus to get all the planes (sales)

but Boeing ( BA ) keeps messing up," Representative Steve Cohen said.

"For America's interests, Boeing ( BA ) needs to get its act together."