WASHINGTON, March 10 (Reuters) - U.S. Transportation

Secretary Sean Duffy said he plans to visit a Boeing ( BA )

factory in Renton, Washington, on Thursday to ensure the U.S.

planemaker is maintaining the highest level of safety, six years

after a deadly 737 MAX crash in Ethiopia.

Duffy will travel to Seattle with acting FAA Administrator

Chris Rocheleau as the Trump administration has vowed stringent

oversight of Boeing ( BA ), also following a January 2024 mid-air panel

blowout on a new Alaska Airlines 737 MAX.

The pair are expected to meet with Boeing ( BA ) CEO Kelly Ortberg,

who will testify on April 2 before the Senate Commerce Committee

on the planemaker's efforts to improve its safety culture and

quality. They will also visit the 737 factory and meet with FAA

inspectors.

Boeing ( BA ) did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Duffy announced the factory visit on the sixth anniversary

of the crash of Ethiopian Airlines flight 302 that killed all

157 people on board, including eight U.S. citizens, and led to

changes in the 737 MAX's design and pilot training.

"I met with several families of the passengers of flight

302 on February 25th," Duffy said on X. "My door and this

department are always open to them for answers and to help them

navigate their grief."

The FAA said the visit to the planemaker's factory was "part

of this administration's commitment to ensure Boeing ( BA ) fixes its

systemic quality control issues."

Duffy said in January that Boeing ( BA ) needed "tough love."

President Donald Trump has yet to nominate a candidate for

permanent FAA administrator.

In January 2024, former President Joe Biden's FAA chief Mike

Whitaker imposed a 38 planes per month production cap after a

door panel missing four key bolts flew off the Alaska Airlines

737 MAX.

Whitaker said in January the tougher oversight of Boeing ( BA )

would continue indefinitely with the agency last year boosting

inspectors at the factory.

Whitaker acknowledged last year that prior oversight "was

too hands off" and said fixing Boeing's ( BA ) safety culture could

take five years. The FAA announced a new audit of Boeing ( BA ) in

October.

In May 2022, the FAA approved a three-year renewal of a

program that delegates some aircraft certification tasks to the

planemaker, rather than the five-year renewal Boeing ( BA ) had

requested. The approval will expire in two months.